Pakwan's life is one of passion and adventure, beginning in communist China during the Cultural Revolution. After a dramatic escape to British Hong Kong, he meets Senseng and the personal conflicts of their long-distance love story begin. The journey continues to the U.S., where as a broke, nerdy, foreign student, Pakwan struggles to adapt his Confucian upbringing to make sense of the hippie-era, "far-out" California college scene. This tale not only presents a fresh and often comedic perspective on a truly transformative period of one young man's life and of two countries but also offers proof that true love really does exist, regardless of what the circumstances are and how seemingly apart two people can be. It is a heart-warming story about the reality and strength of enduring love and the incredible determination to resist occasional temptations, made possible only by two innocent people's first love for each other.