A young country boy, Guei, works in Beijing as a courier. One day, his bicycle suddenly disappears. He eventually finds it with a poor city boy, Jian, who refuses to give it up while using it as a way to impress the girl he loves. The conflict between the two has only just started…

Pluck one bicycle rider from a teeming metropolis and the world opens up before you: stories of love, class and life. As true in 1948 Italy with Bicycle Thieves as it is in China in 2001 with this film, director Wang Xiaoshuai’s Berlinale Silver Bear-winning leap to international recognition.