Nevertheless, aging Tang Zhijun continues to believe in aliens, doing odd jobs such as lecturing in psychiatric hospitals to be able to afford the publication of his small space-exploration magazine and rented office space in Beijing.

After watching a mysterious video online from Sichuan, Tang heads to mountainous Southwestern China to investigate, accompanied by one of his cynical staffers, an alcoholic weatherman, and a woman with insomnia who happens to be the same age as his daughter.

The group of misfits eventually meets an eccentric, young poet named Sun Yitong in a remote village who claims to have received instructions from aliens, and decides to follow him on a journey.

The film was produced on a small budget,[1] and combines genres of soft science fiction, comedy, mystery, and road movies to tell a reimagined story of the Chinese classic, Journey to the West, via a faux-documentary style that eventually gives way to dramatic storytelling.

[2] Chinese sci-fi director Frant Gwo served as one of the film's executive producers, helped with its funding, and appears in a minor cameo role.