As told by documentarian Peter Kaufman, the son of noted director Philip Kaufman, a personal overview of China from Marco Polo to the present. The film's scope addresses the country's social, political, and economic history leading up to 1989, the Tiananmen Square massacre--where began the Kaufman family's involvement in the chaos--and continuing through the present day. Special attention is paid to the dilemmas facing the millions of residents who are wheeling and dealing amidst new freedoms and a burgeoning economy leading to problems such as homeless itinerant workers, corrupt officials, ganhsterism and prostitution.