Chen squabbles with his half-brother Crazy Face about how he neglects his son Weiwei.

When Weiwei disappears, Chen believes that Crazy Face may have sold the child into servitude.

Chen drifts into a mysterious village called Dangmai, in which the past, present, and future mix together.

[5] Bi originally proposed the title Huang ran lu, after Portuguese author Fernando Pessoa's novel The Book of Disquiet.

[9] The film won the Best Emerging Director prize at Locarno,[10] the Best New Film Director award at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards,[11] and the Golden Montgolfiere Prize at the 37th Three Continents Festival in Nantes.