芙蓉锦

In 1950, the Korean War broke out, the war on both sides of the Yalu River, a new serious threat to China's security. Countless outstanding young people have joined the Chinese People’s Volunteers to defend their hard-won happy homeland and the new China.

In the 1930s, aspiring theater artists Song Danping, Chen Tianyi, Tong Ruofan, and Yu Ge pursue their dreams at Paradise Theater, only to face betrayal, tragedy, and hardship. When personal and family conflicts lead to devastating consequences, their once-bright futures take a dark and painful turn.

Wang Shuangli is Deputy Director of the local Cultural Centre, and hopes to be appointed Director. However Old Ma is brought in from the country and installed as Director. This starts a long train of events with Wang's cronies using the bureaucracy to try to oust the new director.

Lei Ming, a former lecturer, and Sang Xia, a psychology teacher, runs a special class to help under-performing students. They guide students like Li Ran, who plans to drop out due to his grandmother’s illness, to overcome challenges and aim for university. Their combined efforts help students realize their potential and prepare for the next phase of their lives.

The daughter of a right-winger, schoolgirl Jing Qiu is sent to the countryside for reeducation, and tasked to help write a textbook. There she meets Lao San, a young soldier with a bright future ahead. Despite the class divide and parental disapproval, romance blooms against turbulent times.

Journalist Gou Yujia (played by Niu Zhenhua), laid-off female worker Cheng Fen (played by Ding Jiali), individual business owner Lv Dou (played by Wang Jinsong), and wealthy man Lao Cha (played by Ju Hao) are members of Class 1025 at the driving school, practicing under the guidance of Coach Hou, a retired soldier. As time passes, they gradually understand each other's habits. This period of time at the driving school is filled with twists and turns, but all challenges are overcome, and the covert and overt struggles among the five end with the smooth passage of the exams. The experiences at the driving school bring out the joys and sorrows of these five individuals, and besides learning the rules of driving, it seems they have also learned the rules of survival.

On an old barge moored close to a small village inhabited by old people and children, live young Wang Wang and his grandfather. The latter is immensely fond of the local doctor, Ms. Bei, who keeps prompting him to buy her a ring as proof of his good intentions. Wang Wang attends the local school, but, in the absence of maternal authority, with great reluctance. Then, one night, a young pregnant woman is discovered hiding on the boat, ready to give birth. With the arrival of her little baby girl, the young mother, already used to her river accommodations, opts to stay with them. Life on the barge is no longer the same. Wang Wang feels the stirring of adolescence and an Oedipal attraction to the young woman; the grandfather is diagnosed with dementia and and is warned that its first signs could soon manifest themselves; and the new young mother keeps a bag whose contents will later reveal a dark secret. Three people at a crossroads in their lives.

The wife of a prominent psychiatrist can't find her marriage certificate one day. This "jiehunzheng" is all important. Without it, the family officially has never existed, including the daughter. The couple go on a wild goose chase through the Chinese bureaucracy, meeting catch-22 all the way....they need a certificate to get a new one, etc. They even journey back to the People's Commune where they met, now the site of modern private enterprises where nobody even recalls the former occupants.

This comedic anthology mini-series follows the dynamic duo of Long Aotian and Liu Bo as they bring humor and heart to diverse self-contained stories.