She, A Chinese tells the story of a young Chinese woman, Mei, who leaves her monotonous village life behind for the excitement of the nearest big city, Chongqing. However, life there doesn't quite turn out as she expected it; fired from her factory job, she falls in love with Spikey, a hitman whose own past soon catches up with him. A spur of the moment decision takes Mei to London, where she marries an older man, Mr Hunt. A new life begins for Mei, trapped in the silence of Mr Hunt's house, alienated and bored. Her frustration with the situation leads Mei into an affair with Rachid, who also migrated to the UK and runs a local restaurant. She moves into the backroom of the restaurant to live with him, but when Rachid decides to return to India, Mei is left pregnant and alone, facing an uncertain future. (PF)

Popo Fan says of She, A Chinese:
‘When I first watched this film, I didn’t quite understand Mei. A few years later, after moving to Germany and reading the director’s book A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (Doubleday, 2007), I realized that I somehow ‘became’ Mei, living her life and loving her love. Sometimes I wish I could be as decisive as she is—just as I’m trying to be as sharp as Xiaolu Guo, to be as honest as possible with myself and with the audience/readers. The film’s star, Huang Lu, is my best friend from the Beijing Film Academy and gave an intense performance in the role. Xiaolu, as our senior, has shown that we can choose a different path instead of blending into the mainstream in China like most of our alumni.’