So-ching Ko

After his wife dies during childbirth, Ku-cheng leaves his children behind in their rural village while he finds work on a construction site in the city. He develops a relationship with a widow but despite their intimacy, he refuses to remarry.

A rather dejected Mei-li Chen lives with her extended family in the suburbs. She drops out of college when the boy she has a crush on finds a girlfriend. Mei-li eventually ends up selling tickets in a movie theatre. A great camaraderie then builds up between the two cashiers in the small ticket booth.

1945-1947, Taiwan. A teenage couple were deeply in love despite objections from the girl’s family. Their tragic story is played out in travelling troupes, tea-houses and western-style cafes, with the backdrop of Japanese occupation and the 28 February Incident.

In 1990, college student Ing, who accidently gets pregnant, returns to Lishan to spend the summer with her father. Ing notices the conflicts between her father and the farmers. She meets a young farmer Wen, and affection slowly grows between them. As summer ends, Ing leaves, and no one knows what the future will hold. To promote a new fertilizer, Ing's father gets a hot-air balloon, but hard as they try, it just can't fly.