We’ve always known that Ellis Yan has a story to tell. We take a break from lighting technology and delve into history, as Ellis explains his life under The Cultural Revolution under Mao. It starts with the day he was sent to school without lessons, moves through years of bullying teachers, and attacks on capitalists and intellectuals before being shipped out to the mountains.

He lived with nine other teenagers in a two-room building in a remote farming village where he had to learn to farm, cook, slaughter pigs and roll his own cigarettes. As he was getting the hang of life planting rice, his mother sent a stack of textbooks so he could study for university qualifications.

Stay tuned for more in part 2, coming soon.