BEIJING — It’s the evening before filming starts, but director Lu Zhan and her main actor, Yang Zhenguo, can’t agree on what the script is really trying to say. Is “Summer” a gay movie? “It’s a love story that just happens to be between two young men,” Lu says, sitting on one of the beds in Yang’s hotel room. “Summer,” a short film project by … Continue reading Telling Ambiguous, Ambitious Gay Stories
YUNNAN, Southwest China — Zhi Zhengjiao, 17, grew up among rolling green hills full of corn stalks and tea shrubs. But despite this natural vista, other outlooks remain dull. For children like Zhengjiao, there are two typical career paths: becoming a migrant worker in the city or staying home to farm. Zhengjiao, who has waist-length hair and bangs that nearly cover her eyes, is creative … Continue reading Left-Field Careers for Farmers’ Kids
GUANGDONG, South China — Early Sunday morning, eight teenagers sit in a row looking at pictures of male and female bodies on the whiteboard and trying their best to answer the teacher’s question: Which parts of our bodies are private? “Wee-wee,” Ming Hang, a 12-year-old boy with autism, quickly replies, half giggling. “Remember, let’s call it a penis,” the teacher corrects him amid laughter from … Continue reading Teaching Sex Ed to China’s Special Needs Students
JIANGXI, East China — Sixth-grader Lin Hongyu is shy until he gets onto the wrestling mat. There, he becomes a different person: effusive, competitive, and devoted to his dream of becoming a champion. “I’m not worried about how hard wrestling is,” the 12-year-old tells Sixth Tone between cartwheels. “All I know is that wrestling makes me happy.” Wrestling is not particularly popular among either spectators … Continue reading Wrestling School Gives ‘Left-Behind Children’ a Fighting Chance
LIAONING, Northeast China — As the sun rises in the seaside city of Dalian, 46-year-old Ju Chunmei prepares breakfast for 20 children while holding 2-year-old Hai Fan. “Mama, Mama,” the little girl mumbles, pointing out a bag of oranges on the ground. In fact, Ju is not Hai Fan’s mother but a former prisoner who volunteered to look after the young charges living in Dalian … Continue reading Dalian’s Patchwork Family of Prisoners’ Children
When East Meets West 