95 mins.)
Veteran actor Zhu Xu plays an elderly man who, together with his mentally-retarded son, manages an old-style Beijing bathhouse. The story studies old school China meets modern day offspring. The action turns on the character of Liu’s elder son, Daming who has left his family to seek his fortune in the Shenzhen economic development region. Under the mistaken impression that his father has died, Daming returns home. Think the Prodigal Son. Once there, he falls under the spell of home life and faces up to the responsibilities of looking after his brother in the event of his father’s death. After a few days in Beijing a simple place like the bathhouse provides him with what it really offers besides being a nuisance for the opted quick shower. A refuge, a place for friends to congregate, share stories and life. The analogy is that the bathhouse represents a source of freshness and renewal and one very big lesson about life.
