The tense hours on board a stricken passenger aircraft that was on a routine flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Shortly after taking off, the pilot Li Jiatang discovers that the plane's landing gear is unable to be retracted. Unable to continue, but unable to land, he and his flight attendant wife Qiu Xiehua, are forced to circle Shanghai. Meanwhile, on the ground, a troubleshooter Liu Yuan is called to see if he can get the aircraft safely back on the ground.

Five young girls in a remote mountain village each find themselves forced into unhappy marriages. Together, they find solace in an old legend, that a girl may hang herself before marriage and retain her purity, her soul turning into a white bird and soaring to the heavenly garden, where there is only beauty and peace.