The three deep bends of the Zhulong River in southern Shandong are said to be the traces left behind when a black dragon with a severed tail turned back three times to gaze at home. Chen Hao and Wang Wu investigate local tales by the river, uncovering the story of Zhu Fu, an ordinary man who transformed into a dragon to save the people during the Republican era, only to be punished by Heaven, lose his tail, and flee into the distance. The dragon's might was terrifying, yet its deepest longing was its attachment to the human world of its homeland. As the chinaberry blossoms fall year after year in wind and rain, the dragon dreams of returning home from a thousand miles away.
