Shiwa, the son of a poor Chinese farmer, is doing well at school. But when his mother dies and his sister leaves the house, he's the only one left to take care of his disabled father.

Chinese movie

Four parallel stories of people just getting by, unfolding over seven days in Beijing. For most of the story, the main characters mis-connect with others, except through their pagers.

During WWII, Taiwan was occupied by Japan. Hai Sheng, a young man from Taiwan, was deeply influenced by Japanese militarism. He enthusiastically joined the Japanese vanguard and went to the mainland China to participate in the war together with his foster-brother, Yamamoto Ichiro. However, when he witnessed the atrocities of the Japanese army killing Chinese civilians, he only wanted to escape back to his hometown. On the way back home, Hai Sheng met four girls including Ning Yu. Forced by desperation, Hai Sheng agreed to send them to the occupied Nanjing city. Along the way, Hai Sheng not only had to protect the four girls, but also avoided the pursuit of Yamamoto Ichiro, the captain of the vanguard team. In the end, among the four girls, only Sakurako (Ying Zi), who was of Japanese descent, survived. When Ying Zi also saw the true face of the Japanese soldiers, Hai Sheng decided to work hard to cover Ying Zi to break out of the Japanese army camp.