曾经繁华的中国都市大同市，如今屹立在一堆废墟的旁边。这座城市不仅污染严重，还因其陈旧的基础设施和摇摇欲坠的经济前景而濒临瘫痪。但大同市长想要改变这一切，他大胆地宣布了一项试图重塑昔日的辉煌的新计划，要知道这座城市的文明已经有1600年了。然而，伴随着这项计划的是非常高的成本。数以千计的房屋被推倒，50万居民（占大同市总人口的百分之三十）将在他的打理下被重新安置。这位市长成功与否，完全取决于他是否能让愤怒的工人群体以及越来越忐忑的统治精英冷静下来。纪录片《中国市长》惊人地捕捉到了一个男人，甚至是一个国家疯狂跳跃着进入一个越来越动荡的未来的过程。

2015年2月10日该片在英国广播公司第四台首次播出。同年在阿姆斯特丹国际纪录片电影节和旧金山绿色电影节（英语：San Francisco Green Film Festival）上映。2016年，该片在台湾国际纪录片影展上映。

De Chinese burgemeester Geng Yanbo is vastbesloten om het kolenmijn-centrum van Datong te transformeren in een toevluchtsoord voor toeristen. Om dit te bereiken moet maar liefst een half miljoen bewoners verhuizen zodat de oude stad gerestaureerd kan worden.

Once the thriving capital of Imperial China, the city of Datong now lies in near ruins. Not only is it the most polluted city in the country, it is also crippled by decrepit infrastructure and even shakier economic prospects. But Mayor Geng Tanbo plans to change all that, announcing a bold, new plan to return Datong to its former glory, the cultural haven it was some 1,600 years ago. Such declarations, however, come at a devastatingly high cost. Thousands of homes are to be bulldozed, and a half-million of its residents (30 percent of Datong’s total population) will be relocated under his watch. Whether he succeeds depends entirely on his ability to calm swarms of furious workers and an increasingly perturbed ruling elite. The Chinese Mayor captures, with remarkable access, a man and, by extension, a country leaping frantically into an increasingly unstable future.

El alcalde chino Geng Yanbo se propone transformar la ciudad de Datong pero la misión no es fácil, tendrá que reubicar a medio millón de personas.