A lens on learning abroad

Bian Saiyuan dreams of playing basketball in the NBA. Provided to China Daily

At US higher-education institutions, enrollment by Chinese students rose to nearly 158,000, about 22 percent of the total international-student body, according to Open Doors, published annually by the Institute of International Education with the US State Department.

Through his project, Liu has met impressive students who aspire to, or have since graduation, become entrepreneurs, actors and architects.

"In the documentary, I don't want to show how hard Chinese are striving here or how 'ashamed' the second-generation rich should be, but to present their lives as they are, as proud and optimistic witnesses," the young filmmaker says.

In Kansas City, Kansas, Liu met Bian Saiyuan, who wants to play basketball in the NBA. Born to a working-class couple and raised by one parent, he has been chasing his basketball dreams with his father's support.

He didn't go to a special school for sports or receive any formal training, but Bian makes up for that with a dogged work ethic.

He was playing on a youth team in Shaanxi when God Shammgod, an American former professional basketball player, praised Bian for his defensive skills and advised him to try and play in the US.

In 2008 he was admitted to Menlo College, a small school in Northern California, partly on the strength of his basketball abilities.

He then transferred to the University of Kansas, a powerhouse in men's college basketball. Bian didn't make the Jayhawks team and has had mixed success trying out for semiprofessional teams.

But after nearly two years of filming, Bian and Liu have become close friends.

Related: Yang Liping's dance drama 'The Peacock' staged in Qingdao