Farewell China

In 1988, Li Hong leaves Shawan Village in Panyu, Guangzhou to study in New York City on a student visa, leaving her infant son with Zhao Nansheng and his elderly parents. She writes home complaining of homesickness, but Zhao urges her to persevere and hints at a future reunion. The departure marks the beginning of a long separation that tests their family.

A few months after Li's departure, she tells Zhao that she may soon qualify for permanent residence in the United States and requests a divorce. She ceases further communication, leaving Zhao distraught and uncertain about their future. The separation becomes permanent in practice, prompting Zhao to consider his own path.

Zhao decides to travel to Panama and is smuggled into New York via Mexico, hoping to reunite with Li and their son. He faces language barriers and dangerous logistics as he slips into the United States. His perilous journey begins the film's focus on survival and family longing.

When Zhao arrives in New York, he cannot speak much English and seeks help from a local artist friend who had met Li at his gallery. The friend is unwilling to house an illegal immigrant, leaving Zhao to fend for himself on the streets. The encounter underscores Zhao's isolation in a new city.

Zhao spots a prostitute in the street who resembles his wife and follows her into a brothel. He is confronted by the pimp, a struggle ensues, and Zhao inadvertently shoots the pimp dead. Zhao and the young woman flee to a nearby club, where he learns she is Jane, a fifteen-year-old runaway from Detroit.

Jane agrees to help Zhao locate Li after they meet at the club. They begin their search through the city, sharing scarce resources and Zhao's mounting desperation. Jane's insider knowledge proves crucial as they pursue Li across neighborhoods.

Zhao and Jane discover that Li had been attending English classes and briefly working at a Taiwanese restaurant in Harlem. The restaurant owners reveal that Li had been raped at work by two African American men and that she was last seen with a Chinese businessman. The information deepens Zhao's resolve to find Li and understand what happened to their family.

The pair confront the Chinese businessman at his laundry shop; he admits to a sham marriage with Li and that Li absconded with his money. Zhao's trust in Li is shaken, yet the revelation propels him further into the search and into a precarious life in the city. The confrontation exposes the betrayals that complicate their separation.

Zhao's life deteriorates into a debauched pattern as he becomes Jane's pimp. He later experiences guilt after making out with Jane and realizes he cannot escape his consequences. Jane decides to turn her life around by returning to school, and the two part ways.

Months later, Zhao runs into Li as she works delivering packages. Li tells him that she had intended for Zhao and their son to join her in New York, and she invites him into her apartment. The reunion rekindles memories, but Li remains emotionally distant and wary.

Li, now fluent in English, treats Zhao as a stranger and even calls him a "chink." Fearing surveillance and the shadow of her past, she goes to a park in Chinatown and tries to defraud several elderly retirees. Zhao intervenes and urges her to seek help from a psychologist, revealing the fragility of her psychological state.

In a final confrontation, Li fatally stabs Zhao with a screwdriver, and he collapses at the foot of a Statue of Liberty replica while clutching a photograph of the couple with their son. Li does not realize Zhao's body lies nearby as blood stains the scene. The tragic ending underscores the cost of their fraught reunion.

In Guangzhou, Li and Zhao's son remains with his grandparents, unaware of his parents' fate. The mid-credits scene hints at a future where the family is split by distance and memory. The film closes on this unresolved note in Li's homeland.