It premiered concurrently with Zhang Yuan's documentary feature, Crazy English in the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival.

[1][2] In contrast, Seventeen Years (and Crazy English) was produced under the aegis of the Chinese bureaucracy, though some editing of the film was required before it could be released.

Xiaolan (Li Jun), short haired is fiercely independent and wishes to work in a factory after she graduates from high school.

At the same time, a young prison guard, Chen Jie (Li Bingbing) is calling her mother to say that she will soon be returning home for the holiday.

Upon arriving at her old apartment, however, both women discover that the home has long since been torn down, and Xiaolan's parents moved to another part of the city.

Yu and Zhu never worked directly with each other, as Zhang asked each to submit a separate draft, which he later edited and consolidated to fit with his concept of the film.

After spending much of his career as the archetypal "underground Chinese filmmaker," Zhang approached Seventeen Years as the film that would finally be screened in China.