One UFO sighting after another proves false. He has to beg for money to keep his space-exploration magazine afloat. There are no messages in the TV static. Nevertheless, aging Tang Zhijun continues to believe in alien life forms and heads to mountainous southwest China to investigate after watching a mysterious online video. He is accompanied by a drunk, a girl with insomnia, and a cynical staffer. When they meet a young poet in a village who says he received instructions from aliens, they decide to follow him and embark on a journey. This Journey to the West is not a story about the Monkey King, but an ordinary man's continuous pursuit of UFOs and the human condition of chasing faded love.