Chrysanthemum Tea

Middle-aged railway worker Ma Jianxin is sent away on a poetry appreciation course for two weeks.After their elderly teacher is hospitalized, replacement teacher Li Weihua is introduced to the class. She has a hole in her heart.Among the brash students, only Ma has an ounce of poetry inside him. Ma and Li begin to have lunch together, both sharing a taste for the chrysanthemum tea that reminds her of her Hangzhou hometown.After she faints during the graduation ceremony, Ma rushes her to hospital on his back. Months later they meet again. But while love is in the air, Li’s heart condition forbids any form of physical life together...

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Jin Chen

Script: Chen Jianbin, from an original story by Peng Jianming

Cinematography: Huang Lian

Editing: Du Yuan

Sound: Hui Dongzhi, Shen Jianqin

Music: An Wei

Actors: Wu Yue (Li Weihua), Chen Jianbin (Ma Jianxin) He Tao (Gougou), Zhang Zhongjie, Qiu Yuzhen (Ma’s mother), Huang Lian, Cheng Qin (Huang Xiangjiu, Gougou’s girlfriend)

Production: Xi’an Film Studio Corp. & Shanxi Hengtai Group

Producers: Zhang Pimin, Sun Yi’an, Zhu Jingfeng, Lu Cunzhi, Hou Shengjun

Format: 35mm

Color: Color

Production Country: China

Production Year: 2000

Duration: 94’

Jin Chen

Born in 1969 in the southern city of Hangzhou, Jin Chen’s first job was at Zhejiang TV Station. He first traveled to Beijing in 1989, entering the Directing Department of the Central Drama Academy in 1992. He graduated in 1996 and, as a self-described internet addict, made his directorial debut on the subject in 1998, winning him a New Director prize at the Golden Roosters Awards.