This dramatic film compares and contrasts Chinese and American cultures. It is based upon real events which took place in New York during the mid-'80s when a deranged white male pushed a Hong Kong immigrant off a subway platform. The movie begins in modern Hong Kong and follows the life of Mo-yung, a middle class single woman. In order to get her out of Hong Kong before the Chinese take over the colony in 1997, her parents arrange for her to marry a Canadian man. But Mo-yung demurs and instead follows Benny, a hip, but shady photographer, to New York. Benny is doing more than taking pictures and frequently shuttles between Hong Kong and New York. Her involvement with Benny gets Mo-yung into real trouble. While in New York, Mo-yung meets Rubie, a half white woman who is being followed by a crazy Caucasian schoolteacher with an obsession for Asian women.