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A friendship grows in the midst of a pronounced culture clash in this offbeat comedy-drama from Chinese author turned filmmaker Zhu Wen. It's 2008, the Olympic Games in Beijing have drawn visitors from around the globe to China, and Mao (Mao Yan) is running a small guest house in a rural community far from the big city. Much to his surprise, Mao finds himself with an unexpected customer -- Thomas (Thomas Rohdewald), an artist of European heritage who is looking for a place to stay. After shooing the ducks out of a spare room, Thomas settles in, but he speaks no Chinese and Mao knows no English, leading to a great deal of shouting and incomprehension on both sides. In time, the two begin to develop an understanding, but even their dreams show they're still worlds apart -- Mao sees images of warriors representing good and evil battling to the death on his property, while Thomas instead imagines a sci-fi scenario in which a handful of pocket-sized aliens lay claim to the Earth. Xiao Dongxi (aka Thomas Mao) was an official selection at the 2010 BFI London Film Festival.