The film is set in modern-day Beijing. It begins with bookseller Zhao Xiaoshuai (Jiang Wen) who is following his ex-lover An Hong (Qu Ying) home, obviously after an unhappy and one-sided break-up. He tracks the fast-walking An Hong on a bus and later on a bicycle, until she reaches her flat and goes up to her apartment. There, Zhao gets a junk peddler (Zhang Yimou, the director himself, speaking in his native Shaanxi accent) and another peddler to call out her name and declare his undying love to her at the high-rise flats.