"three times" would mark hou's second collaboration with actress shu qi and first collaboration with actor chang chen. it is also his sixteenth film, and weaves together three separate stories that describe the relationship of a couple played by shu and chang during three separate time periods: (1) "a time for love" set in 1966 kaohsiung; (2) "a time for freedom" set in 1911 dadaocheng; and (3) "a time for youth" set in 2005 taipei.