[1] The film is set in the early 1980s and follows a Shanghai family who had gone to work in a factory in Guizhou as part of the 'Third Front', intended as an industrial base if China were invaded.

[2][3] This third line of defense was set away from cities and the seacoast, in order to protect China's industrial capability in case of a war against the Soviet Union.

Wang has stated that he set the story in the 1980s in that it represented an era of transition, wherein the Cultural Revolution had ended, but much of the old ways were still ingrained in society.

[4] The main character Qinghong is a 19-year-old student living with her overly repressive father, mother and younger brother in a typical small apartment.

Her 'boyfriend' Honggen, a working local boy who plays only a minor role in the film and develops an obsession with Qihong to her father's contempt.

[1] Qinghong's father Wu Zemin is a stubborn and aggressive man, who has never forgiven his wife for persuading him to move to rural Guiyang.

He forbids her from seeing her 'boyfriend' Honggen, discourages her from spending time with Xiao Zhen and after discovering that she has sneaked out to an underground dance party confines her to the house.

She slips out of the house while her father hosts a meeting with other “Third Line” friends to discuss a plan to flee to Shanghai without official permission.