From cotton fields in northern China to a trade fair in the south where blue jeans are sold to buyers from around the world, Zhou Hao documents the lives of those who work within the massive Chinese cotton industry. While China is promoting commercialization as a means of providing a higher standard of living, in many cases the policy is not improving the quality of life for the average citizen; Cotton uses a single commodity to illustrate the struggle of farmers, cotton pickers, and factory workers as they labor to achieve a better existence.