Miranda Graham, a clothing designer and the widowed mother of two teenagers, is sent by her company to China to meet with officials at the factory manufacturing her designs. On her arrival, overwhelmed by the foreign surroundings, she meets Yuan Li, a builder, the son of a Chinese mother and an American soldier, and himself a widowed father. Li helps Miranda, giving her an introduction to China and enabling her to find her bearings. What at first is a friendship based on mutual curiosity, soon blossoms into a passionate love affair which bridges the cultural divide between them. Li and Miranda spend all of their spare time together, lost in their love. Soon, however, the political and cultural realities intrude upon their idyllic relationship, forcing Miranda and Li to face the future and a relationship made impossible by everything but love.
