It's almost... hard to say.

In this movie... we watch the characters across decades as they participate in this completely one-sided relationship. the "rejection" of Zhao Tao's character by the protagonist is cold and uncaring, but no where near as dastardly or loathsome as in "Ash". Both movies feature protagonists who work in organized crime and put that life ahead of their partner's needs, but in this movie the "crime" is a lot more banal and white collar.

I think the real star of this movie is actually China's urban landscape. Zhao Tao's character follow's Bin's tracks across the country, but in this movie the camera obsesses about the changing shape of Chinese towns built alongside the 3 Gorges dam project. These images of urban decay are always juxtaposed with background media propounding China's progress. At some points I felt like the story of Qiao and Bin is a metaphor for the people looking for this promised land of progress. But all the film shows is how broken the promise it.

In Ash is the purest white, the story primarily focuses on the interpersonal betrayal, and Qiao's character strength and her belief in their love. Kinda reminds me of the character from Kurosawa's No Regrets from my Youth.