Dawn breaks in a desolate, gray industrial city in the north of China. Until sunset, we follow four characters whose lives will intersect. There is Yu Cheng, a young crook who goes in search of 16-year-old Wei Bu who accidentally injured his brother to death. In addition, we have 60-year-old Wang Jin who fears that his family will put him in a home. And then we have Huang Ling, a classmate of Wei Bu, who has a relationship with a school board member. The title refers to a myth: in the far north of China there is said to be an elephant in a zoo that refuses to eat and move in order to let all the suffering of the world slide away. One of the main characters absolutely wants to visit that elephant.