5 Films & TV Shows Set In Beijing During The 1990s

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  American Dreams in China

  Beijing The 1980s The 1990s The 2000s

  During the economic reform period of the 80’s, three undergraduates bind together by a common ambition – to live the American dream. They are Cheng Dongqing, a hillbilly who refuses to accept his destiny of being a farmer; Meng Xiaojun, a self-confident, cynical intellectual; and Wang Yang, an idealistic romantic poet. Xiaojun is the first to obtain an US Visa for studying abroad. Yang follows but decides to remain in China for his beloved. Poor Dongqing is rejected by the US Embassy repeatedly. Baffled, he reluctantly accepts the job as an English instructor in the university but eventually gets fired for teaching tutorial classes in private. Across the Pacific, Xiaojun fails to find a decent job and is driven to work as a busboy in a diner.

  Released in 2013 • 112 minutes
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  Summer Palace

  Beijing Chongqing Municipality Hubei Province The 1990s The 1980s

  Country girl Yu Hong leaves her village, her family and her lover to study in Beijing. At university, she discovers an intense world of sexual freedom and forbidden pleasure. Enraptured, compulsive, she falls madly in love with fellow student Zhou Wei. Driven by obsessive passions they can neither understand nor control, their relationship becomes one of dangerous games - betrayals, recriminations, provocations - as all around them, their fellow students begin to demonstrate, demanding democracy and freedom.

  Released in 2006 • 140 minutes
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  Perhaps Love

  Beijing Shanghai The 1990s

  A love triangle develops during the making of a musical in mainland China.

  Released in 2005 • 108 minutes
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  Lan Yu

  Beijing The 1980s The 1990s

  A love story between a country boy in Beijing to study and a wealthy businessman set against the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident

  Released in 2001 • 86 minutes
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  Keep Cool

  Beijing The 1990s

  China, the 1990s. A young bookseller is in love with a woman. The woman is now with another guy, a rich man. The rich man sends his people to beat the bookseller. In the fight, the laptop computer from a man looking at the scene gets broken. Who will pay for the computer? The bookseller wants revenge. Will it be useful? The bookseller and the laptop owner are from different ages and classes. They are two different points of view, two different Chinas. How will they fight for justice?

  Released in 1997 • 93 minutes