The best Yang Xinming’s movies

When a mysterious visitor appears, the life of Yong Cheng, owner of a store that stocks aphrodisiac products, changes dramatically. He becomes the exclusive selling agent of a cheap Indian generic drug against Chronic Granulocytic Leukemia in China. Not only does Yong Cheng see his profits skyrocket, but he is dubbed the god of medicine“ by his customers

Adapted from the famous stage play of the same name, Devil And Angel (E Gun Tian Shi) follows Zha, played by Sun Li, a top student with a high IQ, who goes on a journey with Mo, played by famous Chinese comedy actor Deng Chao, a professional debt-collector and sometime hooligan, in order to face down her own neurosis, as well as cure Mo of his extreme insomnia.

Diagnosed with ovarian cancer, iron-willed journalist Sheng Nan (“Surpass Men” in Chinese) is pressured to make a quick fortune and find mind-blowing sex before the costly surgery numbs her senses. Taking on a businessman’s biography writing job, she hikes into the misty mountains, where a chain of outbursts with her dysfunctional family, grumpy client, misogynistic co-worker and dreamlike romantic interest hilariously unfold. As deeply moving as it is luminously witty, writer-director Teng Congcong’s debut waltzes across the bitterness swallowed by her generation of women born under China’s One Child Policy, unprecedentedly burdened to “surpass men” while trying not to be “leftover women” at the same time. Saluting the 18th-century Chinese literature classic Dream of the Red Chamber in its title, the enchanting gem refreshes the novel's transcendent contemplation on desire, death and womanhood from a modern cinematic perspective.

It is the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics but in one small town in southern China ZHANG Dachuan, a veteran of the 1950s Korean war, is either lost in memories or picking up after his son’s family since they are too busy with work to pay much attention to their home and even their own son Xiaosong, a westernised kid who is entering his difficult teen years. When Dachaun is invited to attend the funeral of an old comrade-in-arms, he secretly decides to journey to Beijing. And Xiaosong invites himself on the trip to avoid studying… And so starts a memorable experience for an old man and his grandson who hit the road and experience a clash of generations and values in various laughter-filled misadventures where one prefers old-fashioned values and the other modern conveniences. As our two travelling companions enjoy the beauty of the landscape they learn lessons in filial piety and loyalty that will bring them together.

Set in the Shaanxi province of Northern China, In The Wild Mountains is a simple yet insightful tale of village life and how economic changes in the country affect even the most remote regions.