Eighty-nine-year-old Kong Demao was born in the Confucius Mansion, where she had a priileged childhood, which was "cut off from the outside world, ultraconservative and endlessly monotonous." She is one of the 77th generation of Confucius direct descendants and she has witnessed a world of changes in China. Because of her distinctive surname, Kong (inherited from Confucius), she has experienced much more than others. The wrinkles around her eyes indicate she has a lifetime of stories to share.