The film begins following the British victory of the first Opium War and the seizure of Hong Kong. Although the island is largely uninhabited and the terrain unfriendly, it has a large port that both the British government and various trading companies believe will be useful for the import of merchandise to be traded on mainland China, a highly lucrative market.
As a young couple stops and rests in a small village inn, the man is abducted by Death and sequestered behind a huge doorless, windowless wall. The woman poisons herself in order to join him and is met by Death, who gives her three opportunities to prove that love is stronger than death, thereby freeing her beloved from his fate.
An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a ramen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.
In 1930s Shanghai, 'The White Countess' is both Sofia, a fallen member of the exiled Russian aristocracy, and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.
Bai Qian, a goddess and monarch from the Heavenly Realms, is sent to the mortal world to undergo a trial to become a High Goddess. There, she meets Ye Hua, with whom she falls in love and marries. When an old enemy reappears in her life, everything she holds dear is threatened.
From World War, to revolution and ultimately rebirth, Forever Young is the story of four generations spanning a hundred years of modern Chinese history. Each generation faces its own unique set of challenges. Up against corporate corruption, the trials and tribulations of the cultural revolution, and one's duty to nation in time of war, they are faced with choosing their individual paths through history. But as the challenges and turmoil of each generation may differ as time changes, what was learned in the past cannot help but effect the choices that are made in the future as it is passed down from generation to generation. And that is the universal message that being true to yourself is precious. It is the source of strength that empowers one to become the person they want to be, to march forward as far as their hearts desire, into the future.
With both parents working far away, ten-year-old Chuang is being raised by extended family in his home village, where thousands of years of rural tradition collide with the socio-economic changes of China in the early 1990s.
Three farming families in Hanyuan, China, strive to give their children a good life in the midst of an ecological crisis, as widespread use of pesticides leads to a dramatic decline in bees and other pollinating insects in the valley.
As a decades-old state-run aeronautics munitions factory in downtown Chengdu, China is being torn down for the construction of the titular luxury apartment complex, director Jia Zhangke interviews various people affiliated with it about their experiences.
Online writer Tang Nan Nan crosses path with Zhu Hou, a second-generation rich boy “sea turtle”, resulting in hilarious situations and face-offs.
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Lin Xiao, Gu Li, Nan Xiang, Tang Wanru - these four best friends, after waving goodbye to their school campus and entering the workforce, they are faced with various challenges in their life: friendship, love, and career. Together, they become lost in life, having long forgotten their past courage.
Tian Zhenhua arrives in Shanghai to coach a local women's basketball team. Number 5 on the team, Xiaoje, excels at basketball but is unsure of whether to continue playing. As Tian gets to grips with training Xiaoje and the rest of the team, he reflects on his career as a star basketball player before the revolution.
After going through a series of tragic events in his life, martial arts master Huo Yuanjia returns to Tianjin and must fight four international soldiers, in order to safeguard his nation's pride.
A deranged student is drawn into a circle of madness by an accelerationist CIA agent due to his crippling addiction to Chinese confectionery.
Young Sung Neng Yee, who is brought as part of a wealthy Chinese family. She is eager to become part of Mao Tze Tung's "new society", but soon becomes disenchanted by the economic misery the changes bring to her family. Before long, the authorities become aware of Neng Yee's feelings and she is taken to a labour camp, overseen by the sadistic Colonel Cheng.
The battle of Red Cliff continues and the alliance between Xu and East Wu is fracturing. With Cao Cao's massive forces on their doorstep, will the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu survive?
In the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, four Communist party special agents, after returning to China, embark on a secret mission. Sold out by a traitor, the team find themselves surrounded by threats on all sides.
Dragon and his madcap pal Cowboy spend their days getting into mischief, frustrating the elders, chasing girls, and competing in the village sport. When Dragon overhears a fiendish plot by smugglers to sell China's national treasures overseas, the pair leap into action. Also, Cowboy's wealthy father is kidnapped by the villainous and lethal Big Boss, and the scene is set for a furious martial arts showdown.
During the 1980s, uptight Ted Boynton is a salesman working in the Barcelona office of a Chicago-based company. He receives an unexpected visit from his cousin Fred, a naval officer who has come to Spain on a public relations mission for a U.S. fleet. Not exactly friends in the past, Ted and Fred strike up relationships with women in the Spanish city and experience conflicts -- Ted with his employer, and Fred with the Barcelona community.