Conjugation

Beijing, winter 1989. Song and his girlfriend Xiao Qing have just moved into a hovel which they're illegally renting since they are not officially married. Song, a chemistry graduate, is appointed to a position in a small factory. Xiao Qing is still a student. But their joy at living together and the idea of building a little island of happiness cannot withstand the weight of reality. It is indeed a bitter winter that arrived in early June 1989, bearing the scars of the events on Tiananmen square. Nobody can forget the impassioned hours of the Beijing Spring, the memory of friends shot down haunts every conversation. The only physical remnant of the hopes for change is the students' solidarity collecting-box that Song and his comrades bitterly share out at a meal.