Cui, a young Korean mother living on the outskirts of Chinese society, has a husband in jail and a son to support. She barely makes a living selling kimchi to workers along the side of a bleak, industrial road. A love affair with a fellow Chinese-Korean leads to tragic consequences as Cui struggles against the vulnerability of her position.

Fifteen year-old Xian goes to live with her father while her mother, a doctor, takes a job in Africa. Soon, she becomes fascinated by her father's stepdaughter, a swaggering, liberated and slightly melancholic young woman.