Huang Zongluo

Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

Sixteen-year-old An-ran gets into repeated trouble because she refuses blind obedience to authority, openly challenging and correcting a teacher who makes a mistake in class. She is different.

An old teahouse in Beijing serves as the stage for a drama that unfolds over several tumultuous decades of modern Chinese history, from the waning days of the Qing dynasty to the eve of the People's Republic.

The story takes place in Beijing before the Liberation. Beggars’ Gang leader Niu Er, played by Han Shanxu, terrorizes the streets with his gang of thugs. When Sun Douzhi, played by Liang Qinggang, refuses to pay him tribute, Niu destroys his douzhi stall. His hot-blooded son, Sun Liu, played by Wu Weidong, vows revenge. Sun Liu and roast-meat shop owner Boss Liu both fall for Li Shuying, played by Wu Weiling, daughter of Li Wobei, played by Wang Ningsheng. Too poor to compete with Boss Liu, Sun Liu joins the Beggars’ Gang and uses Niu Er’s influence to defeat his rival. Disgusted by his son’s transformation, Sun Douzhi disowns him, while Shuying enters a Buddhist convent. After Niu Er betrays him, Sun Liu sees through his schemes, steals his dragon whip, and becomes the gang’s new leader. His first act is to lead his men in destroying Boss Liu’s shop, prompting Sun Douzhi to declare that he will sever all ties with his son.

Required to retire from his job as a utility man at a Peking Opera theater, Old Han is at loose ends, wandering the backstreets of Beijing looking for something to correct.

An elderly veteran of WWII living in peaceful retirement with his son and the latter's family becomes increasingly lost in wartime memories and reminiscences, much to his son's consternation. One day, an item the old man reads in a magazine prompts him to go off unannounced on a war-related quest. The son goes searching for his father, and in doing so reaches a greater understanding of both the old man and the generation he represents.