The fates of three young people intertwine during the 1980's unrest in China.

Picture gallery

Shanghai, 1989: together with his grandfather (Shouqin Xu), 16-year-old Xiaoli lives in a traditional Shikumen district. The old brick homes there are cramped, with life going on mainly in the alleys and community kitchens. The young especially suffer from the lack of privacy as they dream of a more exciting future. With plans to become a photographer, Xiaoli has a secret crush on his neighbor Lanmi, who wants to escape to the US. Xiaoli's rich schoolmate Lili longs for political change and joins the burgeoning student movement. But her efforts bring both her and Xiaoli in great danger.

Sensitive, calm and slightly nostalgic, Haolun Shu's film offers images of China's idealistic youth at the turning point of the late 1980's. Their parents and grandparents, still traumatized by the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, offer little support, which is why young people like Xiaoli, Lanmi and Lili are forced to fend for themselves in these changing times. Each of them does this in their own way – all they have in common is the brutal awakening their country has in store for them.