There is always a price for progress. In Lan Yan, viewers will see the human cost of building a Skyscraper in a dense city like Shanghai. Lan Yan will show the resigned attitudes of residents towards their community's imminent demolition. More importantly, it will show the tightly knit relationships built through generations that will be destroyed to make up for new skyscrapers. Noteworthy is the resilience of the main characters in the film. They remain cheerful despite their lonesome future.