Peacock has over 30 million box-office receipts in China.
The story begins in 1977. An ordinary family of five was living in a small town in China. The elder brother could never get on well with his colleagues and changed job frequently. Often bullied by others, he was always causing problems to the family. His sister and younger brother once thought of solving the problem once and for all by killing him with poisons but failed. The family then sent him to a factory for the retarded. The elder brother later married a peasant girl, who discovered his secret of pretending...

An idealist, the sister has always dreamt to become a soldier. Failing to do so, she became more fanatic with her accordion. She suddenly got married to a driver and found herself a stable job. But idealistic as she was, the sister soon got bored of this kind of life and developed a weird interest. Her husband divorced her, leaving her behind in her own dream world...

The sensitive younger brother resisted to follow her elder brother's and sister's way. He ran away from the family. Returning after a few years, he has taken a mother of a kid as his wife, and retired from work even at a young age.

Now all three in their middle ages. At New Year they bring their family to the zoo to see the peacock. At the same time they recall their own past, which seems just like a dream to them...

The film was awarded the The Jury Grand Prix - Silver Bear at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival.