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The romantic travails of a plucky Chinese widow living on the beautifully photographed northern steppes of Mainland China provide the basis for this drama. She is "Sweet Grass" (Gancao in Chinese) and earns just enough money with her shoemaking business to support her young son. Dim-bulbed but kindly Niu Er, a gentle peddler, takes pride in watching over her. Sadly for him, Gancao is in love with the handsome but taciturn Ba Dun, a hard-drinking gambler who spends his time throwing knives at his opponents and playing Mah Jong with Ma Jiu, the area's great landowner. Ba Dun frequently loses to Ma Jiu. Eventually he moves in with Gancao and their conservative neighbors are utterly scandalized by their open displays of affection. The film won the grand prize at the 1995 Prague festival.