[1] The film stars Sun Haiying and Joan Chen as a husband and wife, and the actors Zhang Fan, Gao Ge and Wang Haidi as their son over the course of 30 years.

The first segment, in 1976, begins with the return of an artist, Gengnian to his wife, Xiuqing and son after several years of re-education during the Cultural Revolution.

He instead hopes to cultivate artistic aspirations in his son, Xiangyang, who has taken to hurling stones at strangers with his friend Chicken Droppings.

It ultimately won the Silver Shell for Best Director and the Jury Award for Best Photography at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2006.

[9] According to Metacritic, which sampled four critics and calculated a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, the film received "generally favorable reviews".