[Dateline : Recent]

Storyline:
Ahead of Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, seventy-year-old Ali Ahmad visited the Gilgit Chinese Memorial Cemetery in northern Pakistan's Gilgit to mourn his old Chinese friends.

In China, it is an old tradition to clean the tombs of loved ones on the holiday, which falls on Thursday this year. For Ahmad, it is a time to remember his friends who were martyred while building the Karakoram Highway (KKH) - the only road connecting the two countries.

Gilgit is the resting place of 88 Chinese workers who gave their lives building the road that has been instrumental in forming the "iron brotherhood" between China and Pakistan.

In remembrance, Ahmad and other keepers cleaned the pathways, covered the tombs with Chinese national flags and gently laid a bundle of flowers on every tomb.

After the completion of the highway in 1978, Ahmed spent his days guarding and caring for the cemetery until his retirement.

He added that the road's completion allowed essential materials and commodities, like cement and vehicles, to enter the country. That in turn helped Pakistan build schools, shops, and markets.

The sacrifices of his friends have benefited the people of of his country, he said.

Despite the barren state of Gilgit in its early days and the numerous difficulties that guards encountered, he insisted that he never harbored any regrets about his time there.

Now that the original cemetery guards have reached retirement age, they have passed the torch onto the next generation. Ahmad and some of his colleagues have kept the job in the family.

Shotlist:
1. Gilgit Chinese Memorial Cemetery in Gilgit, Pakistan - Recent;
2. Chinese national flag;
3. Various of tombstone;
4. Ali Ahmad, former keeper wiping on tombs;
5. Photo of Chinese martyrs;
6. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Ali Ahmad, former keeper (starting with shot 5/partially overlaid with shot 7):
"This is Mr. Li, Mr. Wang, Mr. Li and Mr. Pan. They are all my friends. Mr. Li used to work here. We got along very well. At that time, we were only 19 or 20, almost the same age. We used to build the road together, working near where the cemetery is now. That's how we built up our friendship.";
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7. Various of tombs
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8. Various of Chinese workers, engineers working on building road in Pakistan - Date Unknown;
9. Gilgit, Pakistan - Recent:
SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Ali Ahmad, former keeper (starting with shot 8/partially overlaid with shot 10/ending with shot 11-12):
"Sometimes there were landslides, sometimes there were explosions, sometimes there were accidents, and sometimes there were illnesses. Many died because of these. They are martyrs of our two countries, not one country. They sacrificed themselves in building the Karakoram Highway."
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10. Various of Chinese workers, engineers working on building road in Pakistan - Date Unknown;
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Gilgit, Pakistan - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Chinese national flags, Pakistani national flags, board showing "long live Pak China friendship"
12. Various of tombs covered with Chinese national flags
13. Various of Ali Ahmad, other keepers sweeping, cleaning tombs
14. Arif Hussain, son of Ali Ahmed, Manzure Madad, son of Madad, covering Chinese national flag on tomb
15. Various of Ali Ahmad laying flowers on tombs
16. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Ali Ahmad, former keeper (partially overlaid with shot 17):
"Chinese are really good. The wife of the last person who was buried here remarried, but she still came and visited here with flowers. She cried, put the soil on the tomb into a box and carried the box away. We are deeply touched by their love."
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17. Pigeons
18. Besom sweeping dust on tomb
19. Pigeons
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20. Various of Ali Ahmad sweeping
21. Ali Ahmad talking with his son, Madad's son, other people
22. Various of certificate of Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award issued by Chinese government to Ali Ahmad
23. Medal of Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award
24. SOUNDBITE (Urdo) Ali Ahmad, former keeper (starting with shot 23/partially overlaid with shot 25):
"I gave my youth to this job. If I had another 40 years of youth, I would still choose to stay and work here. Even working for a hundred years would be too short."
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25. Monument
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26. Various of photos of Ali Ahmad, Madad
27. Various of keepers sweeping
28. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Manzure Madad, son of Madad (starting with shot 27):
"My father was there when these martyrs lost their lives in the construction. He knows the whole story. My father said that Chinese martyrs devoted themselves to the building the China-Pakistan road, why couldn't we protect them?"
29. Ali Ahmad cleaning tomb
30. Arif Hussain sweeping
31. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Arif Hussain, son of Ali Ahmed (starting with shot 29/ending with shot 32):
"Now my dad is getting old and I came to work here. These people sacrificed their lives for Pakistan. For them, we love the job of safeguarding this place. We will pass on the job to our sons."
32. Various of keepers sweeping

[RESTRICTIONS: No access Chinese mainland]