John, a Hong Kong-based British financial reporter has long held a torch for the bar owner Vivian, a former "hostess" from mainland China. She is already romantically linked to a fast-rising businessman Chang who set her up with a bar but is reluctant to marry her given her shady past. John has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia and his love for Vivian becomes desperate. Vivian gradually becomes interested in John, given Chang's lack of commitment. John, meanwhile, has been wandering the streets of Hong Kong with a video camera, documenting its street life during the final days of Hong Kong's British occupation. He meets a street hustler named Jean who tells the story of falling in love with a priviledged British youth whose father's firm had strict rules about romancing local girls. When the boy was stopped from seeing her, she attempted suicide.