A married couple living in a desolate small town in post-WWII China are paid a surprise visit by an old friend of the husband's.

Tianqing falls in love with Ju Dou, his uncle's wife who is tortured for being childless. However, after they have an affair, they discover that his uncle is impotent and try to conceal the truth.

The young Chinese heir to millions in the USA is suddenly destitute. He takes out a life insurace policy on himself and assigns his former teacher to kill him.

In 1995, some high schools in Beijing began to enroll students from poor families, allowing the students to attend school free of charge, to keep them in school. They were given a grand name- “Students with Aspirations”. These children, who face a great deal of pressure just to get by, are an enormous inspiration, with their remarkably hard work, their diligence and their self-respect. They are courageous in facing what fate has dealt them and they dance, even without music.

A college student researches the story of 8 brothers who flee Hebei province in the 1940's for the forests of Heilongjiang's Great Khing'an Mountains.