The rapid increase in prosperity and the international modernization of Shanghai has been implemented on a mass scale at the expense of lower-income traditional Chinese communities. Mr. Zhang and his daughter, residents of a Shikumen area known as Lan Yan, reflect upon the sense of closeness and community he and his neighbors have experienced for over a century despite their cramped living conditions. Lan Yan captures the essence of this community as a window in time before the neighborhood is doomed to be swept away by the surrounding high-rise metropolis.

上海城市的過度規劃與發展讓一些低收入家庭的住宅被迫遷。張先生與女兒原是Shikumen區一個名為蘭言地方的住戶。居民之間的深厚感情反映在彼此的互動之間。被各種新穎高樓大廈包圍著的蘭言，記錄著時代的變遷與居民們的情感。