China In the Heat of the Sun is a China–Hong Kong co-production — one of only a handful of such cross-border film titles indexed here.
Synopsis
阳光灿烂的日子
The film is set in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. It is told from the perspective of Ma Xiaojun nicknamed Monkey, a teenage boy. Monkey and his friends are free to roam the streets of Beijing day and night because the Cultural Revolution has caused their parents and most adults to be either busy or away. The story revolves around Monkey's dalliances with his roguish male friends and his subsequent angst-filled crush with Mi Lan.
China × Hong Kong Co-Production
Other China×Hong Kong titles
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with In the Heat of the Sun. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Drama + Romance in China
85 China titles in our catalog blend the Drama and Romance genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding In the Heat of the Sun itself).
Other Titles From Dragon Film
The 1993–1995 China Window
In the Heat of the Sun holds position #5 of 16 China films in the 1993–1995 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1990s China Landscape
1994 was the decade’s peak output year for China — 8 titles released, including In the Heat of the Sun. Bars below show how the 1990s stacked up year by year (41 total).
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 7 other China films in 1994.
The 51st China title from China we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1935).
Our China catalog contains 946 titles in total (747 films).
Audience Engagement
98 audience reviews — more than 76% of China films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 71th percentile among China films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on In the Heat of the Sun, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- 1970s · 19
- beijing · 13
- cultural revolution · 10
- teenage boy · 8
- based on novel or book · 288
- china · 127
- coming of age · 78
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #138 of 946 China films indexed here (85th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.0 points above the China average of 6.7/10.
Among China Drama productions specifically: #86 of 547 (top 16%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | China |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | China, Hong Kong |
| Original Language | Chinese |
| Production Companies | Dragon Film, China Film Co-Production Corporation |
| Runtime | 2h 14m |
| Release Date | September 1, 1994 |
| IMDb | tt0111786 |