This episodic tale explores the expectations for life, love, and happiness among three average Chinese thirty-somethings—characters who exist mostly on only emptiness and unfulfilled wishes. The intertwining stories are set against the backdrop of a small river town about to be flooded for the Yangzte Gorges dam project; blank concrete walls and already deserted buildings project a sense of muted hopelessness. We are separately introduced to the introverted Mai Qiang, who directs boat traffic on the river and is the reluctant recipient of a girl lent by his womanizing pal; to Chen Qing, a single-mother and hotel receptionist who is involved with her boss; and to Wu Gang, a policeman who is having a gold ring made for an undetermined fiancée. Slowly things begin to connect up when the hotel manager contacts the policeman over an incident involving the other two characters. From these unpromising circumstances, a simple love story emerges.