Synopsis:
Yang use to live with his uncle and his ancestral courtyard home until the Land Reform swept the country in the 1950’s. As a result of the collectivization that insued, his uncles were assigned ‘landlord’ class status.Yang was allowed to stay. However he was forced to share the Yang clan courtyard with three poor peasant families, and has been living with them ever since.Today in a post- Reform China’s market economy, property rights have been restored and many Chinese are seeking to better their living conditions. The aging Yang now has the opportunity to buy back a portion of his family courtyard. At the same time Yang’s son dreams of building a courtyard home by the lake. This documentary opens the gate to the Yang ancestral courtyard and sheds lights on the lives and emotions of the family as they look into the past and towards the future for guidance on how to secure a home in which they and the future generations of Yangs can continue to prosper.