Set in Shanghai in the 1940s. Story of a ballroom girl Jolie Chan who falls in love with a student and becomes pregnant, but the student's family force her to have an abortion.

Taiwan's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1986. In the story, the kindly and very efficient Chinese settlers are distrusted by the natives until they show that they are able and willing to cure an outbreak of plague. The daughter of the native Taiwanese chief has her own peace plan for the region, which involves finding the most eligible Chinese bachelor and marrying him.