In Tangshan, the truck driver Da Qiang, his wife Yuan Ni and their twin Fang Da and Fang Deng are a happy simple family. On 27 July 1976, a devastating earthquake destroys Tangshan, and Da Qiang dies while trying to rescue his children from their apartment. When a collapsed beam traps Fang Da and Fang Deng, Yuan Ni is forced to decide between saving her son or daughter and she chooses Fang Da. However, her daughter Fang Deng overhears her mother's choice and miraculously survives. She is rescued by a soldier and adopted by Mr. Wang and his wife with the name Wang Deng. Thirty-two years later, after an earthquake in China, Wang Deng that is married with a Canadian lawyer and lives in Vancouver with her daughter, travels to China and voluntarily joins the rescue team. She meets by chance Fang Da and she leans the drama of Yuan Ni along all those years. The family is finally reunited at Yuan Ni's home where bitterness are exposed and resolved.