[1] Born in Xi'an, China in 1959, Li studied at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute from 1985 to 1987, after which he moved to Germany.

There he made several documentary films and spent some time acting on German television before eventually enrolling and graduating from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne in 1995.

[4] After his ban, Li Yang split his time between Hong Kong and Germany and gave at least one interview where he claimed, I don't think I have a future in China.

[5]Despite his worries, the ban was eventually lifted and Li was allowed to begin work on his follow up to Blind Shaft.

Like Li's previous film, Blind Mountain turns a sharply critical eye towards another one of China's continuing social problems, this time the illegal selling of women for marriage.