In China, in the foothills of the Himalayas, a non-violent egalitarian society has for millennia offered proof that a harmonious and peaceful life is still possible. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations the Mosuo were recognized as a “model society”.

The film shows the story of Helen Snow in China. After the Xi'an incident of 1936, Helen Snow, the wife of Edgar Snow and also an American journalist, comes back to to Xi'an. With her bravery, wisdom and help of friends, Helen escapes from the surveillance of the Kuomintang Nationalist Party government and manages to be one of the only western journalists to travel to Yan'an, in the northwest of China, and report on the Communist Party and Red Army activities.

The story takes place in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, when the great detective Sherlock Holmes (played by Fan Eilly) and his assistant Watson (played by Xu Zhongquan) came to China to play together and stayed at the Xianlai Inn.