in 2003, zhang take his role as ga yu in the film filmed by chinese director lu chuan (陆川) based on true events. is more or less told from the point of view of ga yu, an ambitious young journalist from beijing whose idea to report on the mountain patrol may just end up being his last. during the filming, zhang and the crew faced a life challenge, just like the characters in the film. zhang once told a reporter " i couldn't stand the pain of the ams in the beginning and dreamt about going back home every day. it took me one whole month to get used to everything, and now i just wanted to complete my work well."