故事发生在当代西施故里。卖茶少女阿兮（杨倩倩 饰）在风景区开了个茶亭，毎天为游客表演炒茶手艺。伙伴小苗（刘臣勇 饰）与哥哥（雷俊申 饰）在景区抬轿子赚钱，三个人相处的其乐融融，为实现到外面世界看看的念头，阿兮与小苗开始攒路费。浩波（王传君 饰）是上海转来的插班生，父亲希望他能在西施故里充电后考大学，但他极不守校规，为班主任施雨（马伊俐 饰）带来很多麻烦。通过一段时间观察，施雨发现他很有个性，自己内心受到感染。莲纹（黄依群 饰）是越剧团第一个演西施的演员，如今己演了数十年，团里最近彩排新戏，女一号由新秀小丽（周柳萍 饰）担纲，莲纹闻讯情绪低落，她与丈夫老费（钱志 饰）的婚姻也亮起了红灯.....

An aging opera singer facing retirement and a divorce. An energetic young woman seeking to escape her mundane life with her boyfriend. A young teacher obsessed with a new and rebellious student from Shanghai. All of them have one thing in common: their lives are intertwined with Xi Shi's, one of ancient China's legendary beauties.