McDull, Kung Fu Kindergarten

Archaeologists uncover a crudely made artifact during a study just before the area is flooded by the Three Gorges Dam. It is identified as the work of Mak-zi, a philosopher who supposedly imagined devices ahead of his time. To prevent its destruction, the artifact is placed on a barge that drifts along the Yangtze River.

The artifact's legend is carried forward across 18 generations of Mak-zi's descendants. They keep his ideas alive, describing inventions that were ahead of their time, including possibilities that resemble later electrical devices. Despite the artifact's crudeness, the story of Mak-zi continues to spread as a mythic forefather of innovation.

Facing mounting debts, Mrs. Mak leaves their home in Tai Kok Tsui to seek fortune on the mainland. She plans to build a better life for McDull while she travels between Wuhan, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. The move marks the beginning of McDull's adventure away from home.

Upon arriving in Wuhan, Mrs. Mak enrolls McDull in the Spring Flowers Gate boarding Taoist martial arts academy in the Wudang Mountains. While he trains, she continues to support the family by working across multiple cities. The academy becomes McDull's new home and social circle.

McDull feels ostracized for being a Hong Konger at the academy, complicating his attempts to fit in. A mysterious Brother Panda befriends him, offering encouragement and guiding him to connect with his peers. The mentorship helps him begin to belong at the academy.

Word spreads of a prestigious International Kindergarten Martial Arts Competition that would test the students' skills and reputations. Most of the class consider leaving the academy to pursue fame, including McDull. The looming event raises the stakes for everyone's training and loyalty.

On a mountain descent, McDull learns from the master's assistant The Pancakes about the headmaster's past. A martial arts prodigy clashed with Pruce Lee over the vitality of Chinese martial arts in a legendary 'Battle of Luohu' at the Sham Chun River. The fight went on through the night until a Zen master intervened.

Feeling defeated by the past, the headmaster withdraws into seclusion and experiments with modernizing Taoist Kung Fu. He later resurfaces by reopening Spring Flowers Gate under the disguise of Brother Panda to recruit and support new students.

Moved by the headmaster's sacrifices, McDull recommits to his training and calls his mother to attend the forthcoming competition. The bond between teacher and student strengthens as they pursue a collective goal. The decision marks a turning point in his confidence.

The competition day arrives, and McDull spots his friend May from Hong Kong at a wire-fu summer camp sponsored by Yuen Woo-Ping, who is also competing. The headmaster learns that a rival school is led by a former Pruce Lee student who had high regard for him. This adds a layer of meta-history to the contest.

As McDull's match is about to begin, the Mak-zi artifact arrives at the competition site and reveals itself as a crude clock in the shape of a chicken powered by cow feces. The device can count 100,000 years, advancing in 100-year increments through a complex holographic system. The spectacle inspires Mrs. Mak to return to Hong Kong to start a new business.

Beaten in the competition, McDull returns to Hong Kong and discovers Mak-zi's original blueprints for the clock. He studies the designs and drafts a plan to recreate the device himself. The moment marks the culmination of the journey to realize Mak-zi's legacy on a personal scale.

Using Mak-zi's blueprints, McDull builds a new clock that fuses ancient insight with modern ingenuity. The clock symbolizes the bridging of past and future and frames his family's ongoing story. The act sets the stage for the closing revelation.

An adult May, now working in an office, notices McDull's clock in the sky and traces it to a quaint restaurant run by the adult McDull in Hong Kong. She confronts the realization that the clock marks a shared destiny. The ending ties back to their earlier friendship and McDull's lasting creation.

Throughout the film, the Mak-zi legend is interwoven as a pseudo-documentary narrated by Jim Chim. These segments provide context for the artifact and show how Mak-zi's ideas echo through time. The documentary tone stitches the various timelines into one mythic narrative.