Wang Mei-Yi

One day young countryside girl Han Bing decides that she had enough. She packs her bag and takes the train to Shanghai to pursue her dream of becoming a pop star. She moves in with her uncle who is not at all happy with his niece getting into the competitive music industry. But Han Bing can't resist the temptations of fame and success. She starts working her way up to the top, not realizing she's becoming someone she is not. Finally she sees that she's failed the ones who really care for her, but is there a way back.

Shenyang, in deep winter snow. Two promising 12-year-old Beijing opera students, Dong (‘winter’ in Chinese) and Nuannuan (literally meaning ‘warmth’) are practising their stage moves diligently and fervently in order to secure their place in an upcoming performance in the capital. Nuannuan has a crush on Dong but Dong is lost in a daze – of a muted longing for his dead mother and a nameless affection for the girl’s young aunt – which unfolds in the juxtaposing scenes of a lone balloon drifting away and a colourful kite soaring into the sky. The train is soon to leave for Beijing, a fond farewell has been bided. Dong has to make his journey, with or without Nuannuan.