Based on the novel of the same name, written by author Li Xintian, Sparkling Red Star takes place in 1937, amidst the Red Army's Long March. It stars a ten year old child named Pan Dongzi, whose father was a Red Army soldier who was captured. His father is rescued by the red army, and as a result Pan Dongzi looks up to them with great admiration. However, his father is soon forced on the Long March, and with the army gone, the village is soon overtaken by the same tyrant as before. Pang Dongzi is forced to flee the village with his mother, but his life proves to become quite difficult. Over the course of the movie he matures as he grows from a child to a young man.