Stone sculptures - legendary Six Horses of Zhaoling - have guarded Li Shimin's tomb for centuries. But in 1914 two of the six stone animals disappear under mysterious circumstances. Zhaoling mausoleum guard Tang Zhenhua traced all the way to the capital.

At the close of the Cultural Revolution, a group of young idealists battle for the right to return home and restart their lives after years of toil on a state run re-education farm in China.

A father who cannot cure his own stubborn illness, a professor mother who struggles with existential questions, a son who is confused and precocious, a giant tortoise that suddenly leaves, and a sentimental grandfather who passed away. The uncle cannot finish reading THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. The aunt won't get married. The grandfather is his own daughter's enemy. The uncle does not want to return from the Philippines. And an unborn child. Summer goes, and autumn comes. Things remain, but people change.