AllMovie

Hu Zengxue's Beijing Suburb is about a group of artists struggling to make a living and avoid political persecution. Fang Jian (Wang Chuyu) is a politically rebellious performance artist who lives in an apartment house with other young artists. When the police arrest one of the artists, Chen Dong (Muo Gen), the rest of the group responds in various ways. Fang sells a painting to a possible patron, but also begins an affair with the man's wife, Li (Zhao Junzhi). Fang is arrested in the middle of his performance, but a bribe from Li keeps him out of prison. Beijing Suburb is frank in its depictions of sex and the political realities of China.