Once the thriving capital of Imperial China, the city of Datong now lies in near ruins, but Mayor Geng Yanbo plans to change all that, announcing a bold, new plan to return Datong to its former glory. Such declarations, however, come at a devastatingly high cost. Thousands of homes are to be bulldozed, and a half-million of its residents will be relocated under his watch. The Chinese Mayor captures, with remarkable access, a man and, by extension, a country leaping frantically into an increasingly unstable future.