Zhang Yang (b. Beijing, 1967) is one of the best-known of the so-called 'Sixth' or 'Urban Generation' of Chinese film-makers. Ever since his directorial debut in the late 1990s, he has demonstrated a consistent talent for addressing sensitive themes of interest to the mainstream Chinese public in popular, entertaining and politically acceptable ways, without falling foul of the censorship. Following his directorial debut with Spicy Love Soup 爱情麻辣烫 (Aìqíng Má Là Tāng) in 1997, *Shower* was Zhang Yang's second feature film, and from this point onwards, until recently, all his films, including *Quitting* (2001) and *Sunflower* (2005), have been variations on the classic Chinese 'family-separation' genre (lunli qingqing pian), or 'ethical family-affection-language films', which has been a recurring strand in Chinese-language theatre and cinema since the 1950s and even earlier. In this genre, the family home - or, in the case of *Shower*, the family bath-house - frequently becomes the setting where conflicts between tradition and modernity are played out.