1900. For Tianjins European colonists a profitable new century is dawning, but for the citys downtrodden Chinese natives the Zodiac cycles end signals imminent catastrophe. Meanwhile the fearsome Boxer warriors said by some to be bulletproof are spilling in from the provinces. On restless streets, a dangerous liaison begins. Ouyang Jue, gentle layabout and heir to a merchant fortune, finds himself entangled with Xnia, a French officers daughter indulging every impulse on her first visit to China. Each sees liberation in the other a chance to leap through the mirror and escape the mundane....