China is tumultuous in 1921 when the famed Japanese author of "Rashōmon", Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, visits Shanghai as a correspondent. Here he encounters revolutionaries, courtesans and much more…

A person's life is destined to be shorter than that of a city. Having spent her whole life in Shanghai, Qiyao has her moments of prosperity and her fair share of loneliness. She finally fades and disappears but Shanghai remains a metropolitan city. Shanghai in the 1930s is glamorous and seductive.

屋顶上放飞的鸽子， 其实放的都是闺阁的心， 飞得高高的， 看那花窗帘的窗， 别时容易见时难的样子， 还是高处不胜寒的样子。