Bought for 1000 yuan, eleven-year-old little girl Xiao E'zi ("Little Moth") is unable to walk, but her new "parents", Luo Jiang and his wife Guibua, have a use for her, as they are trying their luck at a new trade: begging in the streets. Begging is a trade like any other - with its own rules, territories, and rackets. And this is what the artificial family formed by Luo, Guibua, and Xiao E'zi does for a living. Long inured to her fate, Xiao E'zi is eventually persuaded to escape after befriending one-armed Xiao Chun, who is also a helpless participant in this "business". But their chaotic, crowded city environment holds all manner of dangers for young and old alike.

"I wanted to show the unique status of people living at the bottom of the Chinese social ladder. So I focus on a special marginalized group-beggars, to show their special quality distinguished from others.

I use a simple and natural style to reflect the reality, a compact manner of narration and non-professional and instinctive actors, which strengthen the realism of the film," said the director.

The film won the NETPAC Award at Locarno and was nominated as Best Screenplay at the Asian Film Awards.