In 1920s China, 19-year-old Songlian becomes a concubine of a powerful lord and is forced to compete with his three wives for the privileges gained.

Zhang Ziyi plays the youngest of three generations of women who leads lives in Shanghai. Joan Chen plays the great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother. The film recounts this family, the mistakes they make, and a cycle that the granddaughter breaks out of.

The film charts the fortunes of two women who loved each other as sisters, but whose paths diverge when the Revolution brings an end to their old way of life in the brothel.

Shot in 1995, but banned until 2004, this is an adaptation of Su Tong's novel about a shrewd amoral country boy who arrives in the big city in the 1930s and works at a rice emporium.. Initially pushed around, he learns the ropes in his new environment quickly, eventually climbing to the position of boss by marrying the daughter of the house.

Adapted from novels by celebrated Chinese writer Su Tong. Zuo Lin, a poor bow-legged boy, has a small dream - to ride a zebra across the busiest part of the city. Zuo Lin’s transition from an unhappy rider of a rocking-horse, through a happy zebra-rider and a sorrowful hussar officer, to a beaming paper horse rider makes for an absorbing film with a grand narrative. Yet, on the surface, it’s a popular story - girlfriend of a trust fund kid tries to help her boyfriend trick Zuo Lin, but ends up falling in love with him.