The Bridge tells the story of Henri, a 14-year-old Chinese-American boy's encounter with his first love. Every weekend, Henri goes to the Chinese teacher's house to learn mandarin. En route to the teacher's place, Henri needs to cross a blue wooden bridge called the Ocean Avenue Bridge. At almost the same time every weekend, Henri would notice an Asian girl walking across the bridge from the other end. He is intrigued by the red Chinese knot on the girl's backpack. For various reasons, Henri never finds the perfect moment to say hello. In one class, his Chinese teacher tells him the ancient folklore of Cowherd and Weaver Girl and Magpie Bridge, and it serendipitously gives Henri an idea. With the Chinese New Year approaching, Henri makes a hand-made greeting card for the girl. He plans to give it to her when they meet on the bridge. However, the girl never shows up. A frustrated Henri skips class for two weeks in a row... Two weeks later, Henri goes to the Chinese teacher's house an hour ahead of the schedule to apologize. In fact, he has another plan in mind-to wait for the girl by the bridge in case she's early. And just like a cowherd and a weaver girl from the folklore, they meet on the bridge. It turns out that the girl comes from China, and she is on her way for her English lesson. She explains quickly in mandarin that two weeks ago on a snowy day she sprained her ankle in order to catch him in time. Of course Henri's Chinese is too rudimentary to understand the girl. But the audience does. Somehow it doesn't get in the way of their communication. In the middle of the bridge, the girls turns right for her English class, and Henri turns left for his mandarin class.

Not too far away, a painter who has been doing sketches at the corner of the bridge sees everything. (The painter was set up in the beginning of the story.) He puts down his brush and fishes out an old-fashioned cell phone. Maybe it is Henri and the girl who give him the courage to dial the number he's been thinking about but never dares to do so. Before the film ends, we hear a woman's voice on the other end. And just like that, the painter says, "Marian, it's me, Leo. How are you?"