Without any big stars, a well-known director, or a huge budget, the Chinese film "80's Generation" has surprisingly garnered 10 million Yuan (1.5 million US dollars) at the box office after its first week in theatres across China, Ent.qq.com reports.

The film is directed by Li Fangfang, the screenwriter behind the hit "Don't Cry Seventeen" or 'Shi Qi Sui Bu Ku' which was made into a TV series and became popular with middle school audiences.

"80s Generation" is her directing debut but has received little attention since its early screenings. Although it played at the Tokyo Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival, and even received an award at the Shanghai Film Festival, the film has yet to attract major attention. However, after being widely screened at universities across the country, the film has been praised among audiences of different ages and is slowly gaining momentum at the box office.

According to some reports, the attendance rate of this film has been much better than some big budget films such as "The Karate Kid" and "Welcome to Sha Ma Town."

"80's Generation" is an epic story depicting a 15-year romantic relationship between two young people. The film includes historical events such as the Hong Kong handover, SARS, the Beijing Olympics, and Leslie Cheung's death to name just a few. The whole film vividly reflects the love, values and dreams of the generation born in the 1980's. Also, the film sets a good example for Chinese filmmakers to follow in that a good story is all you really need to succeed at the box office, rather than star power.