Deep within the Balou mountains lies a small rural town populated by disabled people. Blind, deaf and disfigured, the 197 citizens of the Village of Liven have until now enjoyed a peaceful, mutually supportive life out of sight and mind of the government. But when an unseasonal snowstorm wipes out that years crops, a county official dreams up a scheme that will raise money for the district and boost his career.

He convinces the villagers to set up a travelling freak-show, to include Blind Tonghuas Acute Listening Act, Guess the Age of the Old Man, Deafman Mas Firecrackers-on-the-Ear and One-Eyes Needle Threading. With the money, he intends to buy Lenins embalmed corpse from an ailing Russia and install it in a splendid mausoleum in the mountains to attract tourism to this sleepy district. However, as we all know, even the best intentions can go awry.

Provocative and funny, Lenins Kisses melds fable, history and satire into a fantastical cautionary tale about contemporary Chinas all-consuming desire for power and wealth.