Zhou Meifen
En los años sesenta, con el apoyo del Gobierno, muchas familias abandonaron las ciudades chinas para establecerse en las zonas más desfavorecidas del país e impulsar el desarrollo de la industria local. Quinhong tiene diecinueve años y vive en la provincia de Guizhou con sus padres y su hermano. Ese lugar la ha visto nacer, es donde viven sus amistades y ahí ha experimentado el amor por primera vez, pero su padre está convencido que el futuro de la familia está en Shanghai. La convivencia es difícil cuando no se comparten los mismos sueños.
The young adult life of Hong Yunsheng, nicknamed Little Brother, is seen as somewhat of a failure by those that know him. A Chinese national, he stowed away on a boat to the United States, where he worked as a dishwasher in the restaurant of a family from his hometown back in Fujian province. After two years in the States and after fathering an illegitimate child there named Fusheng, the child's mother Xuhui who is the restaurateur's daughter, he was deported back to China. Since, he has been floundering in life, which has caused a rift between himself and his older brother, who, with his wife, operate a street front diner and can't have children of their own. Little Brother relies on his new girlfriend, a woman he barely knows named Wu Ruifang who is a performer in a touring opera troupe, for emotional support. Despite Little Brother being the local poster boy for not stowing away, his friend named Monkey tried to do the same, but died on the voyage over due to exposure to toxic ..
