This film inspired Hayao Miyazaki's 'My Neighbour Totoro'.
This film is inspired by screenwriter Chu Tien-wen's childhood memories. It is the first installment of director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Coming-of-Age Trilogy" that features three prominent Taiwanese screenwriters' coming-of-age stories - the other two are A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1985) (inspired by the coming-of-age story of Hou Hsiao-Hsien, who is a screenwriter-turned-director) and Dust in the Wind (1986) (inspired by the coming-of-age story of Wu Nien-Jen).