Zhou's 12 Hours

The story of the Opium War between China, in the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, and the British Empire, in the 1830s, and the subsequent takeover of Hong Kong by Britain; through the eyes of the key figures, fiercely nationalistic Lin Zexu, and opportunistic British naval diplomat Charles Elliot.

Xiao Xiao is sold into arranged marriage with a 2 year old boy, who she must raise as his nanny until he is old enough to marry her. She is expected to honour tradition and to toe the line so far as social proprieties are concerned, but the young girl rebels against the edicts of her elders until at 16, she falls in love with another man.

Bayinbulag and Somiya are brought up, from a young age, as brother and sister by their adoptive grandmother. The three live happily in a yurt on the Mongolian steppes. Just before Bayinbulag is to leave for the city, to be trained as a vet, the grandmother suggests that Bayinbulag and Somiya should eventually marry. Bayinbulag, now training to be a musician, stays away for long periods of time without communicating with Somiya. He finally comes back expecting to marry her.

Wen Shan is a mediocre screenwriter struggling to make a living in Beijing. Commercial projects are left undone, and his own stories fall by the wayside. He lives a stagnant life in a fast growing city. By chance, he begins to write eulogies for a living. He meets the families of the deceased, carefully observes, listens to the stories, and at last, puts pen to paper. As he restores the lives of others, he finds his own place in the city and finally realizes that ordinary people can take the center stage too.

Three families living at the foot of the ancient city walls of Xi’an survive through old traditions and embrace the changes of the new era. In their own way, the different families struggle, adapt, grow, and finally find their way of happiness as the old walls become the intersection of parallel lives.

A small Chinese boy is adopted by a nomadic family in Inner Mongolia.

In the 1960s, about 3,000 Chinese orphans were sent to Inner Mongolia. In the Xilingol grassland, Qiqigema Erji adopted Chen Chen and Yu Sheng even though her husband disapproved. The children grew up as Mongolian nomads. But 20 years later, upon hearing the news that biological parents were looking for their children, Chen Chen left for Shanghai in the hope of meeting his parents. Yu Sheng finally did meet his parents and faced a choice as to where he wanted to live.

A second generation migrant with a dehumanizing factory job returns to the land her family members left behind when they went to the city for a better life.

Pan Mengdie is the last “Xiguan Lady” of Guangzhou — once a legendary beauty, now the solitary guardian of a historic ancestral mansion in the Xiguan district. For nearly a century, she has fiercely protected her love, her family’s secrets, and the legacy bound to the old house that defines her life. Ma Sipeng, a brave and quick-witted community police officer, is assigned to a drug investigation codenamed “Xiguan Lady.” During the case, he becomes connected to Pan Mengdie and her descendant, Ye Yixi. As the investigation deepens, long-buried truths are uncovered, drawing all involved into a tense and emotional confrontation where law and humanity, family loyalty and blood ties, past and present collide — with lives hanging in the balance.

The story follows ten-year-old Huo Xiaoman, who spends his summer vacation at his grandfather Huo Da’s home in Yulin, Shaanxi. There, he befriends several local children from the countryside. Together, they form deep bonds of friendship and embark on adventures exploring air-raid shelters.