[1] In a Wushuang village, Shaanxi province, a young boy named You Tianming (Zheng Wei) begins to learn suona with Master Jiao (Tao Zeru).

He and a fellow student, Lanyu (Hu Xianxu), dream of playing in Master Jiao's ensemble, which goes on tour throughout the Wushuang villages for wedding and funeral performances.

When Tianming grows up (Li Mincheng), he becomes principal of the suona ensemble, but he finds the popularity of traditional Chinese music waning.

Master Jiao urges Tianming to continue the tradition of the suona ensemble, although he himself is compromised by a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.

An official from the government arrives to ask Tianming to make a recording with his ensemble to preserve the culture of this dying art form.