Educational Media Reviews Online

When Zhang Hao arrives from China to study at North Carolina State University, a group of local Chinese Christians is eager to provide a ride from the airport, good food, and regular fellowship. Like the other newly arrived Chinese students, Hao is somewhat bemused by this unfamiliar phenomenon. His intense loneliness, and his desire to have something to film, lead him to attend the group's meetings and activities. He chronicles the reaction of some of the other new students, as well as his own, as they encounter a pushy evangelism that runs sharply counter to their Communist upbringing.

The sound is a bit uneven, but what the film lacks in polish it makes up for in authenticity. This is a thoughtful, contemplative film. It illuminates the experience of Chinese students at American universities, and some of the challenges and isolation they face. It also raises questions about evangelistic techniques and individual autonomy. How much is the care and hospitality that Wong and others work so hard to provide undercut by the accompanying pressure to adopt a new belief system? We get the most insight into the students who did not end up converting; we're left to assume that those who did convert were starved for friendship or succumbed to the pressure, but we learn less about their experience. Nonetheless, this film is a valuable contribution that handles its subject matter well.