When a beautiful Chinese factory worker retraces her great-grandmother’s footsteps in America, she risks her job and her life to recover her family’s treasure, and bring a century-old massacre of 28 Chinese laborers into a modern perspective.

[In partnership with Arthur O. Thomas, Main Man Films, LLC.]

SYNOPSIS:

Beautiful electronics engineer, HWEI (30), in a large smartphone factory in China, learns late from her supervisor and boyfriend, MR. XU (35) that her mother died on their rural farm. Mr. Xu, reluctantly grants three-days off for Hwei to settle her affairs. Hwei finds an empty farmhouse, and learns that her mother left her only a ceremonial candle, covered with the symbol for Yin, and her great-grandmother’s journal written in English in 1885. The journal recounts her great-grandmother’s dangerous American trip from San Francisco to Rock Springs, Wyoming, after Chinese coal miners were massacred by whites. Hwei’s yearning for an adventure, is fueled and funded by a raw diamond she finds inside the Yin candle. There must be a Yang candle somewhere. And who has her great-grandfather’s gold watch?

Despite the threat of being fired, and the prospects of losing a boyfriend, Hwei decides to retrace the journey. She sells the diamond to a sinister old jeweler, MR. JUNG (75), and flies to San Francisco to take the train east. She shares journal pages and scenic photos on a blog with her friends at the factory. Factory supervisors expect dissension due to the blog, but they find increased productivity.

We follow Hwei’s two adventures; one dressed as her great-grandmother in 1885, and one today, over the same geography, but separated by 131 years. The historical journey is filled with a hired thug named XAING (40), a wimpy anti-hero named YINGLIE (30), and the hate-filled white coal miners who perpetrated the Massacre. Hwei’s present journey includes a train ride with handsome private investigator, BILL YONG (30), who works for Mr. Jung, demanding text messages from her supervisor, and a corporate boss, DESMOND SALAZAR (60), tracking Hwei to regain “control” of the plant.

Danger escalates in the early journey, and suspense grips in the modern journey as we near Rock Springs. Hwei, as her great-grandmother, survives a kidnapping and assault looking for her great-grandfather, while Hwei in the present is deceived by Bill, robbed by Mr. Jung, and disillusioned by Desmond. Both have to battle the elements, bad guys, and the times to survive.

In Rock Springs, we relive the horrible massacre in 1885 that left 28 Chinese laborers dead, many more injured, and 75 homes burned to the ground, all because cheap foreign labor affected jobs for whites. We learn that justice was never served. However, Yinglie gains courage and with Hwei’s help, they defeat Xaing.

In the present, Hwei begins to trust Bill, and together they track Mr. Jung, find her great-grandfather’s gold watch, and recover the Yang candle. Hwei quits her job, and returns to China as an adventurer and writer. Bill joins her for a happily-ever-after ending.

ROCK SPRINGS (BY TOM STOHLGREN AND ARTHUR O. THOMAS)