MY Beijing Birthday takes a heart-felt and humorous look at the rapidly changing lives of a group young Beijingers through the eyes of a New Yorker, Howie Snyder.
The story shows us the group as 8 year olds in 1996 studying Chinese stand-up comedy with Howie and their teacher Mrs. Ma. We visit the group again in 2008 as they reflect on their lives and their new dreams for the future.
This generation of children, known as China's new little emperors , is the first in the world to grow up without brothers and sisters. They have grown up amid the most rapid economic growth the world has ever seen.
In "My Beijing Birthday' Howie breaks through language and cultural barriers to shows us how these children - and Beijingers in general - are a lot like his native New Yorkers: rough on the outside, but tender on the inside.