[4][5] At the festival, the film won the two main acting awards, with Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei winning the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Actress, respectively.

Following the death of Xingxing, who drowned while playing by a reservoir with Haohao and other children, Yaojun and Liyun moved to another province (Fujian) and adopted a 'new' boy who they rename 'Xingxing', who grows estranged from his foster parents and leaves them as a young teenager.

When Haiyan is about to die, she invites Yaojun and Liyun to come back to their home town, which they hardly recognise after so much urban development.

Following this revelation, Liu Yaojun and Wang Liyun receive a phone call from their estranged, adopted son to say he is returning to visit them and bringing his new girlfriend.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Intimate in focus yet epic in size and scope, So Long, My Son sets a heartbreaking saga of family tragedy against the changing face of modern China.