Coming from a poor family, Xiao fails his way out of school and ends up hanging around his house with little to do other than helping out at the family food stall on the side of the road. With few options open to him, Xiao signs up for the People's Liberation Army. This film follows him through this period, from the personal checks made on Xiao and his family before he is accepted into the PLA, through his training and challenges endured.This film is perhaps too short and lacking in commentary to be about delivering a "message" and indeed the material captured isn't general or explorative enough for one to develop an informed opinion on the PLA or China, but this is not necessarily a failure of the film. I say this because to me the film is successful in regards access into the PLA via the eyes of young recruit Xiao. With China probably less than a decade away from becoming the dominant power in the world, any film that can provide a good look at the country is worth a look in my book and this is what the film does. The access granted is impressive as it follows Xiao through the PLA. It allows the viewer to see the challenge and ultimately the benefit of the military service (which I suppose is why the film got the access it did).It would have better if the film was longer and made more of a fuller documentary on the subject but Xiao's Long March serves as an introduction to the subject, almost a taster if you will. This is how to approach it because the short running time means the novelty of what you are seeing covers the lack of exploration and discussion and the end result is an interesting if rather simple film thanks mostly to the degree of access the makers got.