Set in a meat processing plant, the film features the 'Three Lis': Big Li, the chairman of the pliant workers’ union; Old Li, the workshop foreman; and his son, Little Li. In this Laurel and Hardy-esque world, Little Li is enamoured of callisthenics and seeks to involve all the workers in a daily workout. Old Li worries that even this mild form of exercise will distract the masses from the task at hand: production. One day the young Li accidentally locks his father in the refrigerated storeroom and as the old stalwart freezes, he sees that one way to keep warm is by doing callisthenics. Reality turns the recalcitrant into a die-hard Tai-chi enthusiast, and thereafter the meat processing plant enjoys the benefits of mass amateur athleticism.