This booklet was designed and produced by Yaqin Si and Antoine Prum for Ni-Vu-Ni-Connu, with the unfailing support of our friend Yan Jun, despite the geographic distance that currently separates us. It is an updated version of the original film project that was presented to the Luxembourg Film Fund in June 2019 under the title Tracks of the Trade. The project settings have been largely revised following our research trip to China in October 2019; the new title, 来回 (lái huí): Recording the Field along the New Silk Road, appears as a natural consequence of these developments.

At the time of writing, the uncertain situation due to the coronavirus pandemic and the concomitant geopolitical turmoil does not permit us to make any forecast about a possible travel and shooting schedule. In this context of unpredictability and waiting, the somewhat extravagant length of this publication visualises the time loop in which we are trapped, as well as our longing for better days that will allow us to start our odyssey.