As civil war and famine ravaged Southern China in the mid-19th century, word of the California Gold Rush reached the port of Canton. The prospect of making a fortune in America proved an irresistible lure to young Chinese men. They set sail across the Pacific hoping for a better life.

Part Two tells the story of hostile years when Chinese Americans existed in a kind of limbo, denied the rights of their new country and no longer at home in their former one. They found refuge in Chinatowns, insular worlds that provided a sense of security and the companionship of kinsmen.