The memories on the taste buds, are those of growing up, of life, of past recollection, of families. In a sultry morning, on the top floor of an old apartment building in downtown Taipei, where a private kitchen is about to open, the female owner Li Xin-Yue has gone missing, abandoning the male owner of the private kitchen, her boyfriend Ji Wei-Ran, along with the unorganized storefront. In the old town area of Tainan, the roof of the old family Li mansion gets hit by a gusty wind, blowing away a piece of tile and leaving a hole on the rooftop. The wind follows through the hole, blowing into the Li’s, launching an upcoming family storm. The three sons of the Li who live separately have all returned. As they debate about the repair work, the conflicts hidden among their relationships start to surface.
Chou is placed in the “losers” B-class by his teacher, while the girl he likes, Min, is in the prestigious A-class. Tired of his pale and uneventful youth, Chou sees Button, a small gang leader, as the man he aspires to become. In 1996, during the Taiwan Strait Crisis, his father’s investments took a hit, and his mother’s stock trading incurred losses. The gloomy atmosphere at home made his younger brother Bin’s piano practice sound especially dispirited. Falling in with Button’s gang, Chou experiences a series of setbacks: Button leaves for military service, gets framed by his peers, Min emigrates out of fear of war, and their teacher forces Chou to drop out after catching him smoking. What kind of future awaits him?
Through the stories of nine kids living in the Chinese Shopping Mall, this film depicts their diverse and magical life experiences.
In the summer of 1985, while Xiaobudian (the tiny one) was at the fourth grade, he was already a convincing street vendor, who sold stuff for allowance on a skywalk every day. Xiaobudian’s father is a shoe shop owner who was doing business in the Chinese Shopping Mall. One day, a magician from nowhere showed up in the mall. He had a treasure bowl and a zebra capable of emitting colorful lights, and he was able to make countless magic tricks. Xiaobudian admired this magician, and bought magic props for practice every day. At the same time, more and more boys and girls in the mall have met this mysterious magician, and gained life-changing power after they watched the magic show.
