After China imple­ment­ed its family plan­ning policy, the pop­u­la­tion declined sharply. As a result of the con­struc­tion boom in the 1960s, every Chi­nese vil­lage has an ele­men­tary school, and every larger town has at least one middle school, but there are less and less chil­dren in the schools. As the econ­o­my is rapid­ly chang­ing the coun­try, farm­ers are leav­ing their vil­lages to earn a living in the city. Fam­i­lies, teach­ers, and stu­dents seem to dis­ap­pear, leav­ing huge school build­ings aban­doned in the land­scape. LI KAI tells the slowly evolv­ing story of a family bit­ter­ly affect­ed by the pol­i­tics of this coun­try. The camera always stays at eye level, reveal­ing sen­si­tive insights into a Chi­nese schoolchild’s life.