Keyi Sheng

Qian Xiaohong is born into a sleepy village far from China's headlong rush towards development. A scandalous love affair launches the buxom but unworldly sixteen-year-old on a journey to the southern boomtown of Shenzhen. There, released from the stifling conservatism of her rural upbringing, Xiaohong must navigate a strange new world with unfamiliar rules and values, and learn to go...

At first glance, the Li family looks quite ordinary—one tyrannical grandfather, two overworked parents, four siblings, and one small house for them all to live in. Yet, with a journalist in the mix, its members can hardly hide their countless misfortunes. Xiaohan, the youngest daughter, shares her family's unconventional history and exposes the depth of what it means to live...