Ming's wishes at the tree on Lunar New Year with his grandmother always seemed to come true, but one year the tree does not help, and he alone must make peace with the loss of his grandmother and the spirit of the tree.

A beast, Nian, would emerge from the sea and ascend onto the land during the twelfth full moon of the year, devouring every living creature along his path. Folks discovered that Nian was scared of the noise of firecrackers and the color red. Thus today the Chinese celebrate New Year's Day with firecrackers and wear red.