One morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment.

Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign. Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. It takes her deep into her past where, for the very first time, she begins to have a sense of her future.