A film by Zhou Hao | China, 2014 | 86 minutes (Mandarin with English subtitles)

The Chinese Mayor is a 2014 documentary that follows Datong mayor Geng Yanbo's efforts to transform one of the China's most polluted cities into a cultural destination, in large part by displacing 500,000 residents to reconstruct the walls of the Old City. By following in the mayor’s footsteps for two years, director Zhou Hao presents a portrait of an individual who appears to want to serve his community with the best of intentions. But moving a half million of the city's population is bound to create resistance, especially when there are already issues with the newly constructed housing projects.

During Winter Term 2016, the U-M Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies will present a series of cutting edge contemporary independent films from China.

Please note that access to Angell Hall and Auditorium A on Saturday evenings is only through the entrance on the east side of the building--called the Fishbowl--which faces the diag and the Hatcher Graduate Library. Usually only one door to the far left is unlocked.