A young woman in the 1920s has a hard life and learns sympathy for her own mother's situation.

In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

A black comedy about a farmer who tries to bring home the body of his friend, who died far from their town.

A story centered on a company that grants wishes to people looking for a day away from their ordinary lives.

Modern-day urban problems like unemployment and teenage depression come under the microscope. Husband and wife lose their jobs, and their daughter is under considerable stress studying for her college exams. Meanwhile, grandmother is having an unexpected romantic liaison. Will the family be able to pull together to solve their problems?

After laying bare backward village mentalities in Bloody Morning, Li Shaohong turns her attention to China’s urban middle class. Cao is a photographer, married to an opera singer and with an infant son, caught in the usual professional morass of political compromise. His life starts to fall apart when he learns that his ex-wife also bore him a son some months after their divorce – and when the boy turns up looking for his father. Nothing wildly dramatic, just believable people in believable situations. If the ending seems a touch forced, this is nevertheless a sign that ‘Fifth Generation’ cinema is changing and coming to terms with up-to-date realities.