After Women’s Story, Peng returns to the most straightforward representation of women’s issues in Shanghai Women, a film about three rural women. As the first work in Peng’s Shanghai Trilogy, Shanghai Women describes the problem that women encounter trying to secure urban (residential) space through the story of women from three generations.

The tense hours on board a stricken passenger aircraft that was on a routine flight from Shanghai to Beijing. Shortly after taking off, the pilot Li Jiatang discovers that the plane's landing gear is unable to be retracted. Unable to continue, but unable to land, he and his flight attendant wife Qiu Xiehua, are forced to circle Shanghai. Meanwhile, on the ground, a troubleshooter Liu Yuan is called to see if he can get the aircraft safely back on the ground.