Lan Yu

synopsis

Beijing, 1988. On the cusp of middle-age, Chen Handong has known little but success all his life. The eldest son of a senior bureaucrat, he heads a fast-growing trading company and plays as hard as he works. Few know that Handong's tastes run more to boys than girls. Lan Yu is a country boy, newly arrived in Beijing to study architecture. More than most students, he is short of money and willing to try anything to earn some. He meets Hangdong in a pool hall, and has what turns out to be a life-changing sexual initiation. Handong and Lan Yu meet often, and the boy is soon secure in his love for the man. But Handong insists that he wants a play-mate, not a companion, and warns Lan Yu that they will eventually break up. Lan Yu is undeterred, until the night he catches Handong with another boy. Handong gives him lavish gifts - a newly built villa and a car - and they begin living together. But again, Handong shies away from his feelings for the boy. But fate can play cruel tricks...