此电影故事根据“国家艺术基金”资助的同名舞剧改编。建国年少时做为知识青年远赴新疆，支援边疆建设，在艰苦的工作和生活环境中结识了红柳，并与红柳相爱并建立家庭；知青返城时，建国为了儿子的前途不得不离开爱人、离开边疆，从此开始了一段跨越千里、长达数十年的思念；最终，百年后的建国和爱人以特殊的方式重聚，永不分开。
When he was young, he went to Xinjiang as an intellectual youth to support border construction. He met Hongliu in a difficult work and living environment, and fell in love with Hongliu and established a family. When the educated youth returned to the city, the founding of the country had to leave the lover and leave the frontier for the future of his son. From then on, he began a period of thought that spanned thousands of miles and lasted for decades. In the end, a hundred years later, the founding of the country and its lover reunited in a special way and never separated.
