Composed as a quartet of spellbinding stories, the film begins with a pastoral idyll about the magical and moonstruck existence of a young widow and her son. A pair of embroidered shoes sends the mother into a flight of fancy and delirium; but years later; a trip to her island hideaway reveals something of her past...The second story, both hilarious and poignant, is set in a college campus at the dawn of the Cultural Revolution. It focuses on the desires between two Indonesian Chinese returnees and a voluptuous female doctor. A scandal revolving a 'bum-pinching molester' paradoxically binds and severs their ties. The third story, the protagonist of the previous story is sent down to the village where the mad widow and her now grown-up son live. A riveting tale unfolds, about male egos and female bellies, and how caressing velvet can save or ruin lives. The last story journeys back in time to the windswept Gobi Desert, home of nomadic Uyghur