Bumming in Beijing (aka Roaming Beijing) is a short but fascinating documentary looking at the lives of five freelance artists (writers, painters, experimental theratre director and photographer) in late 1980s Beijing.
The artists have rejected a conventional approach to life and mainly live in small rented and rundown hutongs in Haidian (near the Summer Palace and Peking University (BeiDa)). As they are all from outside Beijing, they do not have a Beijing hukou which adds to their difficulties. Their incomes are irregular and they are sometimes reduced to visiting friends (and acquaintances) around mealtime to bum food or using the favcilities of BeiDa.
Director Wu interviews them about the reasons they came to Beijing, their views on life and ambitions for the future. The interviewees generally come across as combining an commitment to art and a practical approach to survival, though at least one appears to be affected by psychological issues. The films paints an interesting picture of alternative culture in late 1980s Beijing.
The title is perhaps a bit misleading since the Chinese version appears more to imply drifting or roaming Beijing than bumming (but then there is no alliteration).
It does not explicitly refer to the June 1989 events (although filming took place before and after) but only one of the five is still in China in 1990 which may be comment enough. Marriage is frequently the path to travel abroad.
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