Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.

Siao Yu needs a green card. Mario Moretti needs his debts paid. Getting married could solve their problems, or multiply them.

The epic story Mei Lanfang, who overcame the prejudice against artists in 1930s China to become the country's greatest opera star.