The old city of Fengjie is about to be flooded by a hydroelectric dam, but the construction of the new neighborhood is not yet concluded. There are items to be rescued, and others to be left behind. Han Sanming, a coal miner, travels into town to pay a visit to his ex-wife that he has not seen for sixteen years. They meet at the Yangtze river. Nurse Shen Hong also makes her way there with intent to visit her husband who has not been home for two years. They embrace in front of the Three Gorges dam. The film follows along with people who have lost their references, displaced in the world, be it because a town has ceased to exist, or because of a relationship that is not over, and they wander through the region in search of a new destination.