Wang Qiyao (Sammi Cheng) is a woman whose life and destiny are inextricably intertwined with her hometown, Shanghai, to which she remains devoted even as the great loves of her life abandon both the city and the woman for broader horizons. Spanning decades in Qiyao's life and Shanghai's rich history, the story follows its heroine through prosperity and poverty, glamour and anonymity, and one inevitable and wrenching heartbreak after another.