The year is 2008 and China is opening to the world. Announcements about the summer Olympics in Beijing are blaring out from loudspeakers across the country, stirring up national pride about an event that underscores China’s confidence in the 21st century. But in a far-flung corner of north-west China, on the edge of the Gobi desert, the sparkle from the capital has faded into a translucent dust, coating everything in a declining industrial town with a bleak, grey haze.
It is here that Black Dog’s central human character, Lang, freshly released from prison, finds himself, as he returns to his barren home town to reconcile with his ailing father and former neighbours, who regard him with suspicion.
