In Jilin, a large industrial city in northern China, Song Xue-Wen, a young industrial worker, becomes the inadvertent victim of a radioactive accident at his company. He undergoes seven major operations with both legs amputated at the hip and the left hand amputated at the wrist. However, the company Song works for refuses to give him proper compensation. They even refuse to pay for prosthetic limbs with which he might some day achieve his dream of standing up. Experiencing the lowest point of his life, he meets a beautiful, caring young school teacher, named Yang Gang, and they decide to go to the company’s headquarters in Beijing to seek justice and compensation. Life in the big city is hard for the young couple, but through their struggles they seek to find love and happiness, and what it means to stand up. The film is based on a true story and Song Xue-Wen plays himself in the movie.