Shijie
The World tells the story of two workers at Beijing World Park: a performer, Tao (played by actress Zhao Tao), and Taisheng (Chen Taisheng), a security guard and Tao's boyfriend. As the film begins, Tao is visited by her ex-boyfriend, who is on his way to Ulan Batur. Taisheng meets Tao and the ex-boyfriend at a small diner and insists on driving him to the Beijing Railway Station. From this awkward introduction, the relationship between Tao and Taisheng grows increasingly strained. Taisheng, frustrated that Tao refuses to have sex with him, is also busy with fellow migrants from his home province of Shanxi. One, Chen Zhijun nicknamed "Little Sister," is a childhood friend of Taisheng's and comes to him looking for a job. Taisheng manages to put him in touch with someone and he eventually finds work as a construction worker.
Tao, meanwhile, meets one of World Park's Russian performers, a woman named Anna. Though Anna speaks no Chinese, and Tao no Russian, the two become unlikely friends. Anna confesses to Tao that she will quit her job and implies that she must prostitute herself in order to make enough money to see her sister, also in Ulan Batur (Tao, realizing only that Anna is upset, tries to comfort her). Later, while at a karaoke bar, Tao runs into Anna and confirms that Anna has indeed become a prostitute. Anna runs away and Tao cries, neither quite knowing what the other is thinking. As for Taisheng, he soon proves to possess a roving eye. When one of his associates asks him to drive a woman, Qun, to Taiyuan so that she can deal with her gambling brother, Taisheng agrees. Taisheng becomes enraptured with Qun shortly afterwards, and the two often meet at Qun's small clothing shop. There, Qun tells Taisheng about her husband, who years before had left China for France. Since then, she has tried with some difficulty to obtain a visa to join him. Though he pursues her, Qun rejects Taisheng's physical propositions.
Taisheng eventually convinces Tao to have sex with him, with Tao threatening that she will poison him if he ever betrays her. His life, however, quickly spirals out of control when "Little Sister" is killed in a construction accident. Sometime after the accidental death of Little Sister, Wei and Niu, two other performers at World Park, announce that they plan to wed, despite the fact that Niu is dangerously jealous and unstable. At the wedding, Tao discovers a text-message sent from Qun, who has at last received her visa, to Taisheng, saying that their meeting and relationship was destined. Believing that Taisheng has indeed betrayed her, Tao is devastated and cuts off contact with him while she house-sits for Wei and Niu. When Taisheng comes to visit her there, she ignores him. Sometime later, Taisheng and Tao have succumbed to the gas leak, presumably in their friends' apartment. As the film fades to black, Taisheng's voice asks, "Are we dead?" "No," Tao's voice responds, "this is only the beginning."
dramatic