From a review of the new film:
The film is adapted from the autobiography of Li Cunxin, a peasant child in the wilds of rural China who, at age 11, is plucked out of a one-room schoolhouse to attend Madame Mao's dance school in Beijing. He ends up with the Houston Ballet Company as part of a cultural exchange program, and a few mildly humorous scenes of culture shock follow. Once he has tasted the liberty -- and the good life -- of America, however, the new star doesn't want to return.