This film's three parts focus on three major events of 2008 in China: the March uprisings, the May earthquake, and the August Olympics. In Tagong, two young Tibetan girls play in the grasslands as the shouts of military drills reverberate through the town. In Qingchuan, three women burn paper money and light fireworks to mourn their lost loved ones on the 49th day after the earthquake. In Renshou, a migrant worker working on the demolition of a disaster area returns home during the Olympics to spray his rice fields.