It's the late 1980s, and Chinese economic reform is in full swing. The newest province – Hainan – has just been formed. It is granted status as the largest Special Economic Zone by the central government, attracting many young and ambitious graduates to pursue their dreams of a better life. Twenty-seven-year-old Liao Yi Ling takes a two-week holiday in Haikou, the tropical coastal capital of Hainan, to see what life can offer. Her life then overtaken by a series of twists both emotional and professional. She is at the peak of her career in PR at the multinational group beginning to develop a major economic zone in South China when the Tiananmen Square event takes place, resulting in economic sanction by the West. How will these grim times directly affect her own world? Will she remain in the country that she loves?