On April 26, 1970, the third boy (Guo Jinglin) of the Guo family in Beijing's Hutong was born. However, in a slapstick, Big Brother (Jiang Wu) but lost his knife with a knife to the neighbor's older son David directly stabbed his brother paid for their actions.

After being released from prison, big brother experience another trough of life, decided to abandon everything, go alone to the prairie. Brother (Zhang Jia Yi) from the initial sale of green bean sprouts to start doing business, from the business apparel factory to invest in stocks, repeated defeats, repeated defeats. His insistence for business just as much about his mind to Miss Er. After graduating, the third directly devoted himself to the stock market. Under the leadership of his master, he continued to grow and finally became independent. Once, he fell into two feelings can not choose, and ultimately go alone to Hainan. Youngest fourth son (Qu Zheming) suffering from congenital asthma, stuttering. In order not to drag the family, exercise themselves, hard tongue twisters and crosstalk, eventually becoming a postman, but also because of this job, find his true love.

　故事开始于70年代的北京。郭家的小儿子呱呱坠地，两个哥哥对他疼爱有加。然而，在一场意外中，大儿子失手将邻居杀害，因此面临了锒铛入狱的结局。出狱之后，老大的境遇并没有多少改善，一直在迷惘中度日，最终，他决定前往内蒙寻找自我。 　　老二以卖菜起家，之后又摆起了羊肉摊子，只要是能赚钱的生意他都有兴趣掺一脚，但是没什么经验和头脑的他却总是在钱上面吃亏。老三进入大学接受高等教育，毕业之后进入股票市场，在师傅的带领之下很快就走上了正轨，生意越做越好。老四有先天性的缺陷，却并没有气馁和放弃，而是不断的努力突破自我，最终找到了人生的价值。

Uma vida esplêndida em Pequim retrata a vida de quatro irmãos desde a juventude na década de 1970, quando cresceram como pessoas comuns nos becos de Pequim, até os quarenta anos.