| Director | Sun Zhou |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film, romance film |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
The story is set in Chongyang (Hubei province, China) and Sanming (Fujian province). Zhou Yu, a ceramics artist from Sanming falls in love with the poet Chen Qing, who lives in Chongyang, a town several hundred kilometers from Sanming. During the train trips between Sanming and Chongyang, she also meets Zhang Qiang, a veterinary surgeon.
Gong Li plays two characters who only differ by their hair styles, namely Zhou Yu and the short-haired Xiu. The film is pieced together with many flashbacks in no particular chronological order. The relationship between the two women is unclear until the end of the film.