The Chinese war film "Railway Heroes" (2021) is based on real stories, specifically the actions of railway workers based in east China's Shandong Province during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The film portrays a group of railway workers who secretly fight Japanese invaders as part of the Lunan Railway Guerrilla, an underground armed force of the Communist Party in Shandong. Director Yang Feng interviewed descendants of soldiers from the Lunan Railway Guerrilla to refine the story, according to China Daily.
The film is set during the snowy winter of 1939 when the Japanese army controlled the Jin-Pu Railway in Shandong. The movie centers on the Lunan Railway Brigade, an extraordinary group of brave individuals who used their wits and courage to defend their homeland.