The play focuses on three families living in Beijing: Yao Siyuan's family, representing the wealthy and middle-class, Zeng Wenpu's family, representing the clean stream, and Niu Sidao's family, representing the corrupt. In this turbulent era, the three families witnessed the process of the Chinese people's transition from feudalism to democracy. Individuals were either swallowed up by the torrent of the times, or achieved personal cultivation with the times. When the times have changed, looking back, they suddenly realized that the past forty years have been a dream in Beijing, but it is just a passing cloud and smoke. What really remains in our hearts is the eternal love of the world.