He has seen her before and admired her also, from afar. The road into the village, where some of the film's most moving scenes take place, has immense significance to the villagers and the film's protagonists. It is where Luo Changyu and Zhao Di first formed their love and, in the present, it is the path along which Luo Changyu's funeral procession travels. Although the film has a poetic folk tale quality, the young girl's stubborn and inspiring determination to win her love gives the movie an epic quality. Apart from these weaknesses, Zhang's eye for detail gives the film an authenticity and emotional intensity rarely matched by contemporary filmmakers.
Rural life is rather peaceful and worry-free, with little, if any, social disturbances.
The only harshness, by distant and faceless authorities, takes place when Luo Changyu is forced to leave the village and work in the city for a period. When Luo Changyu decides to make a short return visit to see Zhao Di, the authorities punish him by banning him from seeing her for two years. Zhao Di is devastated, but she stubbornly waits on the road longing for his return and their eventual reunion. By contrast, the modern day village is bleak, cold and almost barren of young people who have moved to the cities in search of work and a better life. It is so denuded that the mayor is forced to try and organise men from elsewhere to carry the teacher's coffin back to the village.