Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society by refusing to have her feet bound.

In a novel based on Chinese Cinderella tales, fourteen-year-old stepchild Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother cruelly mutilates her own child's feet so that she alone might marry well.

Centuries ago, two 'sworn sisters' are isolated by their families, but stay connected through a secret language written in the folds of a white silk fan. Now in modern-day Shanghai, their descendents must draw inspiration from the past as they struggle to maintain their own eternal bond in the face of life's complications. What unfolds are two stories, generations apart, but everlasting in their universal notion of love, hope and friendship.

After illustrating how a combination of laws, customs, and Confucian philosophy had reduced Chinese women to chattels, this program examines in detail the turning points from the late-19th through mid-20th centuries that paved the way for a complete reversal in Chinese women's status. Remarkable vintage film and fascinating interviews with women whose lives have spanned the 20th century provide evidence of and insights into the harmful practices of...

A debut collection from a deeply original writer and observer of love, betrayal, and turning points in ordinary peoples' lives. In a raw seacoast cabin, a young woman watches her boyfriend go out with his brother, late one night, on a mysterious job she realizes she isn't supposed to know about. A man gets a call at work from his sister-in-law, saying that his wife and his daughter never made it to nursery school that day. A mother learns that her...

Mao's aphorism about the strength and ability of women may have helped to do away with foot-binding, child marriage, and other archaic traditions, but in 21st-century China gender equality is as illusory as ever. This film examines the challenges that Chinese women face, especially the obstacles to prosperity and security that the country's poor, rural women know all too well. Viewers meet Yu Xinpei, who migrated to Shangai from a remote southern...