Hua, étudiante chinoise, habite à Paris depuis peu. Un jour, elle rencontre Mathieu, un jeune ouvrier qui tombe amoureux d’elle. Commence alors une histoire d’amour intense et passionnelle. Cette relation déstabilise Hua qui décide de repartir en Chine. Jusqu’à ce qu’elle prenne conscience de l’importance qu’a prise Mathieu dans sa vie.

Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.

A film crew gathers in a hotel near Wuhan to resume production of a film that was interrupted ten years earlier, but an unexpected event once again disrupts the preparations.

Lu Jie has no idea her husband is leading a double life, until the day she sees him entering a hotel with a young woman. Her world crumbles. A few hours later, the young woman dies beneath the wheels of a car. The police officer in charge of the case refuses to believe her death was accidental.

After getting out of prison, small-time crook Mardar stumbles upon a woman who looks exactly like his long-lost lover, who he attempted to kidnap 3 years ago.

Yu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.