In white shirt, blue pants, black cloth shoes and two pigtails, Jingqiu gives off an air of great "
pure beauty" in Zhang Yimou's new movie Under the Hawthorn Tree, which tells the story of
the sad romance of Jingqiu and a handsome young man named Laosan set at the end of
the "cultural revolution" (1966-- 1976).
     Before it was released, moviegoers foresaw what this "pure beauty" could be. Director
Zhang complained of how long it had taken him to find the right girl for the part of Jingqiu 
a character so innocent. She believes that simply lying on the same bed as a man will make
her pregnant.
     It was 18-year-old Zhou Dongyu who stood out from the crowd. According to Zhang,
Zhou has "eyes that are clear like a fountain on a mountainside". Born to an ordinary worker's
family, the Shijiazhuang girl was in her final year of high school and working hard for a place in
an art college.
     "If you have fair skin and clear eyes, as Jingqiu does, it is easy to look pure. Girls today
wear so many jewels and make-up--that's the reason Zhang was not interested," said Du Yanlai
, 17, of Chengdu.
     While some teenagers consider such "pure" beauty illusory, others believe that it speaks of
something soulful.
     Purity is all about an innocence that shines through from within, thinks 16-year-old Tan Mengxi
of Nanjing. "Being pure can be simple, not having complicated thoughts and being inexperienced.
However, it doesn't mean an ignorant or native person. So, a person is pure in his or her nature if
he or she is always enthusiastic and able to deal with difficult matters independently. This purity
doesn't pass with time, "she said.