China is a country where dissenting voices have been systematically purged and propaganda efficiently woven into every aspect of life. Art has often served as a political tool, particularly during the Cultural Revolution following Mao’s direct orders. This inescapably politically and culturally turbulent atmosphere stipulated a movement of contemporary Chinese artists’ diaspora to New York City. “Yellow Ox Mountain” is a short documentary that portrays the artistic endeavors and the personal journeys of two such contemporary Chinese artists, Zhang Hongtu (b. 1943) and Zhang Jian-Jun (b. 1955), whose lives and work span from the post-Cultural Revolution political environment of China to today’s thriving Chinese contemporary art community of New York. They were determined to escape from the artistic leash imposed by the Chinese cultural control. Each represents a different personal background and experience of the Cultural Revolution, and very different reactions expressed through their artwork. Yet, there is a shared sense of constant cultural negotiations as they concurrently look back to their traditions and forward to the multifaceted creative influences of New York.