China Gate (2011)

Right before dawn, students in Huining have already started their revision, hard working youngsters have filled up the space of school ground. This is one of the most poverty stricken county in Western China; here people's only hope is in education, as the way to change their social status. Therefore all their effort point towards the College Entrance Examination; the process is like going through a narrow gate, those who pass will have the chance to study in Universities, and a chance for a better life. During the same winter in Beijing, a fresh graduate faces a big decision. Should he keep trying to survive in the big city or go back to his countryside home? The exhausted faces in the underground doesn't seem to be revealing answer to his anxiety. He decides to come and see the flag ceremony in Tiananmen Square, but the pulsing symbol of the nation seems contradictory to his dream. Shanghai's nightfall sparkles with prosperity, one graduate from Shanghai music conservatory tells her struggle of finding her place in the big city. The memories of hard work from early age and the high hopes of parents still seems like yesterday. Looking at the old video footage of her piano practice as a young child now feels like a bitter sweet joke. Ironically, the early learning institute next door seems like a playful place to be but those confused faces are difficult to ignore. But despise what may lie ahead, the young country students keeps fainting light in hand as they walk in the darkness.