In 1987, Yu Hong (Lei Hao) lives with her father in a small town in China on the border of North Korea. One day her boyfriend brings her a letter that contains her acceptance into Beijing University. That night, she loses her virginity. The next day she leaves for her new life. At the university, Yu Hong is an outsider who is aloof from the other students. She keeps a diary and likes to escape in solitude with her own thoughts, which is only natural given the crowded and always noisy conditions of the dormitories. Even though she keeps to herself, she develops several fiercely loyal women friends who are attentive to her mood swings.
Yu Hong falls in love with Zhou Wei (Xiaodong Guo) the first time she sees him in a bar and after they have sex, she just cannot get enough of him. Sometimes they go out with Li Ti (Ling Hu) and her boyfriend Ruo Gu (Xianmin Zhang) who has studied in Berlin. But most of the time, they play erotic games with each other and test the boundaries of what is possible in an intimate relationship. They bring equal doses of pleasure and pain to their passionate affair. At one point, Yu Hong tells Zhou Wei that she wants to break up with him. When he asks why, she responds, "Because I can't leave you."
Writer and director Lou Ye sets this tumultuous sexual romance in the context of changes going on in China. It mirrors the freedoms that are being sampled by the students and the influences from the West. Lou Ye films the events in Tiananmen Square on July 4, 1989, as a chaotic evening where youth spill into the streets for a rally and only later realize that the forces of repression have been unleashed against them. Yu Hong gets lost in the hugger mugger of the events and decides to drop out of the university. She has broken up with Wei Zhou but his powerful presence haunts her other relationships.
Lou Ye follows these characters over the next eight years. Zhou Wei travels to Europe and joins Li Ti and Ruo Gu in Berlin. He continues to be a sexual lure for women. Meanwhile Yu Hong tries to match what she had with him but is unable to find his equal. She comes to see that sex is the only part of a relationship that enables her to express her gentle and caring nature. Most of the time, she is depressed and disappointed with her life. Fate draws Yu Hong and Wei Zhou together once more and they have no clue as to what will happen when they meet again. Will they play out an old story or create a new one? Those familiar with Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers will find that both films explore sexual passion set against the backdrop of student protest and rebellion.
