Conjugation
(Dong Ci Bian Wei)

Beijing, winter 1990. Song and his girlfriend Xiao Qing have just moved into a hovel which they’re illegally renting since they are not officially married. Song, a young chemistry graduate, is appointed to a position in a small engineering factory where he demonstrates a marked lack of enthusiasm. As for Xiao Qing, she is still a student, studying French. But their joy at living together and the idea of building a little island of happiness cannot withstand the weight of reality. It was indeed a bitter winter that arrived in early June 1989, bearing the scars of the bloody repression of the events of Tian’anmen Square. Nobody can forget the impassioned hours of the Beijing Spring: the memory of friends shot down haunts every evening, every conversation. The only physical remnant of the tremendous hopes for change is the students’ solidarity collecting-box that Song and his comrades bitterly share out at a meal. Finally spotted by the police, one freezing morning, Song and Xiao Qing are obliged to leave their hovel.