2006年9月6日，威尼斯電影節首映，獲第63屆威尼斯最佳影片獎——金獅獎；同年11月16日在香港上映，2007年獲華語電影傳媒大獎——最佳電影獎。
該電影具有強烈的紀錄片底色，以大量的鏡頭記錄了舉世聞名的“三峽大壩”修築前期三峽庫區百萬移民搬遷工程（1993年移民工程正式實施）這一歷史浪潮下，（2006年）一段發生在重慶市奉節縣的普通老百姓的生活面貌。影片由兩個獨立而又統一的生活故事組成：一名煤炭工人從山西來到奉節尋找16年前花錢買的妻子和他的孩子，在耐心的尋找和等待中，他加入了當地民房拆遷的隊伍，透過這位外來者的所見所聞，影片濃郁的現實主義色彩撲面而來；該片的另一個故事是，一位婚姻家庭名存實亡的妻子“千里尋夫”，只是為了當面向丈夫提出離婚。這兩個故事，一個是尋求家庭的完整，另一個是尋求婚姻的解除，但兩者都是為了開啟新的生活。本片以“煙”“酒”“茶”“糖”四個字作為四個單元的小標題，通過這些極其尋常的日用品，勾勒出中國老百姓生活的酸甜苦辣。我個人認為本片非常適合用來解讀中國老百姓的民族精神底色——堅韌、善良、勤勞和順從。
Award: 2006, Best Film at the Venice International Film Festival; Best Film at the 2007 Chinese Film Media.
This film, set against the historical backdrop of the relocation of one million people for the Three Gorges Dam Project, makes use of a good number of documentary footage that depict the lives of ordinary people in Fengjie County, Chongqing, in 2006. The film tells two separate yet interconnected stories. A coal miner from Shanxi travels to Fengjie in search of his estranged wife; while patiently waiting and searching, he joins a local demolition crew. A woman travels a "thousand-mile journey to find her husband" and ask for a divorce. One story is about the search to reunite a family; the other is about seeking the end of a marriage: both are about a new beginning. The film uses four ordinary daily items – "cigarettes," "wine," "tea," and "candy" – as chapter titles, using these every day items as symbols of the joys and sorrows of ordinary Chinese life. This film is highly suitable for understanding the fundamental character of the Chinese people – resilience, kindness, diligence, and conformity.
