A group of Lisu people without a registered ID (Hukou) live their primitive life in the mountains by the Nujiang River in Yunnan. In addition to misfortune and hardships, they also have simple happiness.
Rubel wants to join school but reality forces him to smuggle across the River Ganges between India and Bangladesh. The same river eroded his home. Now he lives on Char, an island within this river which starts eroding now.
Hundred-year-old veteran Peng Guochen relies on the care of his grandnephew Peng Songbai. Under the enormous economic pressure, the local government has not been able to implement his old-age pensions.