Ephemeral Glimpses

A Republican-era love story spanning time and war.

In 1930s Shanghai, Su Wanqing, a wealthy young woman recently returned from studying in the Soviet Union, falls in love in Moscow with Chen Jingming, a rising star in business. But a family-arranged marriage forces them apart. To save his family’s business, Chen Jingming marries Wu Ruolan, the daughter of a shipping magnate. Su Wanqing leaves to study in France, and Zhou Ziqian, who has always guarded her quietly, follows her to Paris and stays by her side through seven years of study.

As the flames of the War of Resistance engulf the country, Chen Jingming and Wu Ruolan find responsibility and tenderness within a marriage tested by hardship. Meanwhile, Su Wanqing and Zhou Ziqian establish a free school at Huishan in Wuxi, keeping the spark of education alive amid the chaos. When the jasmine blooms again, four souls weathered by time finally find their places in the turmoil between duty to their country and personal feelings.

One returns a love etched into the heart, sealed away in a pocket watch and a necklace. Another finds new life in a bond of mutual devotion. And someone else spends a lifetime watching over the one they love, eventually finding warmth together on the back of a bicycle.