It is 1967.
Chow Mo-wan returns to Hong Kong. The city is far different from the one Chow knew when he saw Su Li-zhen for the last time. People say she is divorced. Chow looks for her, but doesn’t find her. To make a living he writes episodes novels. He lives in low class hotels. When he can, he chooses to sleep in the room 2046, the room number that was once his love nest with Su. He bigns to write his first science-fiction novel.