<p>The varying results in contemporary literature on teacher professional development (PD) have raised questions about how teachers make sense of messages that a PD program attempts to convey. This case study examines how a group of Chinese teachers made sense of their goals of participating in a lesson study (LS) preparing for a public lesson as part of their PD routines. We interviewed the seven teachers individually for their views and/or explanations on our specific observations made during the LS. Our analysis of the data reveals that the teachers collectively considered putting up a good ‘show’ as an important goal for them. We examined how the teachers made sense of their goals in the LS process and the factors involved through the lens of activity theory. Results show that the LS activity system emphasised collectivism, the notion of face (<i>mianzi</i>), learning from models, as well as learning from and respecting the senior. We discuss implications on studying teachers’ sensemaking of PD messages through the lens of activity theory.</p>