This spring, the most eye-catching movie might be YOLO (《热辣滚烫》). By March 18, it had made around 3.5 billion yuan at the box office, reported Paper.

Directed by 41-year-old Jia Ling, the movie tells the story of a woman tired of the world, finding herself and learning to love life through boxing (拳击). The name of YOLO is short for the movie’s main idea— you only live once.

Jia Ling has tried many different roles in her life, including crosstalk (相声) and sketch (小品) performer, variety show (综艺节目) guest and actress. The movie Hi, Mom (《你好，李焕英》) in 2019 is the first one Jia directed in her life.

Jia didn’t study directing at university. It makes her feel freer in film making because she doesn’t need to follow a fixed style. To everyone’s surprise, Hi, Mom made her the world’s highest-grossing (票房最高的) woman director before 2023.

Before making YOLO, Jia was often seen as an overweight comedian (喜剧演员). She often made jokes about herself to make people laugh. For this movie, Jia lost more than 50 kg which made it hard to imagine that this is the same Jia we once knew. Some people online said even her voice became softer, and they called this a “rebirth” for Jia. She has proved through her actions that if you want to be successful, you need to try your best.

In Jia’s eyes, her change in identity (身份) and look is her way of saying true to herself. “It’s hard to predict one’s life. I’m just following my heart but not looking for changes in purpose. Movies are now the best way to show myself, so I put all my energy into them.” Jia told Xinhua.

“In fact, Jia didn’t change. She’s just being more herself. She shows us through her actions.” said talk show host Chen Luyu.

Do you know about Huaguxi? It originated in Hunan Province. Some other provinces, like Hubei, Anhui, Henan, Shanxi, also have Huaguxi.

People could watch Huaguxi as early as the Qing Dynasty. At that time, most of the Huaguxi players were farmers. They wore colorful clothes and painted their faces. They always sang songs and danced along the streets to celebrate some special festivals.

During the early 19th century, there were only two roles in Huaguxi: chou and dan. Chou is a male clown and dan is a young girl. Both roles were played by men. In the 1860s, Huaguxi added a new role: sheng (a handsome young man). In the early 20th century, women began to play in Huaguxi.

The early Huaguxi lasted only 45 minutes to an hour. Most plays were about the life of the farmers. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, some Huaguxi performance groups moved to Changsha. There Huaguxi developed quickly. Now, Huaguxi has more roles and can last two to three hours. People can enjoy different kinds of stories.

Did you walk into the cinema on National Day and watch the movie “ The Battle at Lake Changjin (《长津湖》)”? It’s about how the new China helped North Korea to push back the American soldiers. It is not only the movie itself that makes people touched, but the heroes of the war who fought for our country and the people.

Let’s take a close look at the real-life history behind the movie. Changjin Lake is in North Korea. The Battle (战役) at Lake Changjin was in a very cold winter with temperatures of around -40°C. In the 1950s, our Chinese soldiers had to face life-and-death problems when they got on the train to enter North Korea. A US enemy plane bombed (轰炸) the trains, and the soldiers had to quickly move into the mountains and forests to hide. I still deeply remembered a picture in the movie. In order not to expose the target (暴露目标), they stayed in the ice and snow without any moving. Although the follow-up troops (后续部队) killed the enemy and won the battle, unluckily 125 soldiers were frozen (冻) to death. This is a movie about war and people. Many people can’t help crying after watching this movie, because our Chinese soldiers used their lives to guard (保卫) the country and the people.

It is the loveliest persons who guarded China’s great rivers and mountains. However, many of them never have the chance to see the beautiful mountains and rivers again. The movie “The Battle at Lake Changjin” wants to tell today’s young people: though we live in an age without war, we should never forget the true heroes in the history!