The young poet Xin Baihe flees Shanghai with his friend, Liang. Liang soon joins the resistance against the Japanese invaders, but Xin chooses to pursue a relationship with a glamorous and westernized widow in Qingdao. After hearing that Liang has been killed, Xin has a change of heart and rushes to join the war effort.

A young woman finds employment in a department store, only to attract the unwanted advances of the manager and his son.

The life and story of Lin Zexu and the First Opium War.