Filmed over a five-year period, this interesting drama is about challenges to poor, minority immigrants in the U.S. and starts with the arrival of a Chinese Vietnamese woman (Mabel Kwong), living with a host family in New York while she tries to adjust to the changes in her life. She is a poet, and her works are one way in which she tries to reach out to her adopted family -- with varying levels of success. Working conditions for the minorities in the garment district, gaps between an older generation still living in their native culture, and a young generation of Americanized youth, and the difficulties of obtaining an education and then advancing in the society are all addressed.