985 Factory

Biodata

Background / History

985 Factory was established under the project and design code “985,” which became its internal name. Publicly, it operated as the State-run Shuanghe Machinery Factory, or Shuanghe Factory. It was a confidential installation: absent from maps, without a public mailing address, and reachable by post only through Shancheng P.O. Box 6015 731 798.

The factory was built deep in the mountains under the Third Front principle of relying on mountains, dispersal, and concealment. Its grounds extended for several kilometers through forested ravines, with workshops distributed among vegetation and air-raid shelters. Aircraft reportedly surveyed the area before construction to ensure the site was sufficiently hidden 776 804.

In its prosperous years, 985 Factory manufactured hundreds of large-caliber cannons annually. By 1987, declining conditions made the loss of even one howitzer a serious matter, especially during its conversion toward civilian production 765 772.

Operations

Military Production

• Produced large-caliber cannons and howitzers for the country during its peak years 765 812.
• Retained a Security Department with a Public Security Section operating under the joint leadership of the factory and the Shancheng Public Security Bureau 735 804.
• Economic Police were selected from strong young workshop employees; unlike security cadres, they were not ordinarily permitted to carry firearms 735 815.

Civilian Conversion

The factory began producing civilian goods under a policy of maintaining military production while converting to civilian output. Its former artillery workshops were divided into work areas for automobile wheels, mufflers, metal fuel tanks, and hydraulic clamps 880 1186.

Educational Facilities

• Maintained schools for employees’ children, including elementary and middle school education 1084.
• Its vocational school trained primarily factory employees’ children for later workshop assignments; specialized instruction came from technical departments and workshop personnel 804.
• Cultural-subject teachers could serve both the middle school and vocational school 804 1210.

Notable Personnel

• Han Aimin — Physics teacher at the factory middle school and mathematics teacher at its vocational school. After returning to 1987, he regards 985 Factory as both his former home and dream workplace and seeks to change his fate there 1231 1210.
• Huang Haishan — Han Aimin’s eldest brother-in-law and a factory-born former soldier. He serves as deputy captain of the Economic Police team while awaiting formal cadre promotion 765 772.
• Zhang Shengbing — Han Aimin’s second brother-in-law and a workshop worker who assists him in reaching the test-firing range 800 1032.
• Zhong Jianyu — Former military cadre transferred to the factory and assigned as a political teacher at its middle school 776 887.
• Liu Pingping — Factory child and English teacher at the factory middle school; classified as a collective worker rather than a formal employee or cadre 776 819.

Story Role

Han Aimin awakens at 985 Factory in 1987 after a fall, recognizing the location as the thriving workplace he had later left behind. The factory’s familiar staff, schools, and mountain surroundings confirm his apparent return to the past 887 1084.

Soon afterward, the factory becomes the center of Han’s first attempt to alter his family’s future. Huang Haishan’s cadre promotion is endangered when a truck hook breaks while transporting two howitzers to the railway station, sending one cannon into a ravine. Han rushes to the general assembly workshop and test-firing range to help resolve the crisis 765 772 800.