A young cargo ship captain named Gao Chun (Qin Hao) pilots his boat up the Yangtze River and ponders the recent death of his father in this allegorical drama from director Yang Chao. During the trip, he encounters numerous symbols representing China's past, present and future, including a mysterious woman who is present at every port along the way. The woman, he soon learns, is some sort of magical being who seems to grow younger as the ship inches closer to the source of the Yangtze.