This novel focuses on the entrepreneurial and life portraits of Chinese communities in modern North America, with a main storyline centered on the arduous process of wealthy Chinese merchant Ye Jiangnan’s family establishing a Chinese theater in California’s Chinatown between 1906 and 1939. It depicts the commercial rivalries among several Chinese theaters, the rise and prosperity of North American Chinese theaters, and the entanglements between these theaters and U.S. government agencies such as the Immigration Bureau and the Department of Labor. The narrative portrays a gallery of modern North American Chinese figures, including Ye Jiangnan (owner of the Oriental Grand Theater), his wife Chen Huan, Ren Yonggui (owner of the Guangtai Grand Theater), Chinese TCM doctor Li Bo’an, Xu Dingwen (owner of the Jingmei Photo Studio), Chinatown socialite Cai Die, and renowned Chinese opera artists and troupe members represented by Yaluo, Xiaofengwei, and Lan Zhaozhao. Through their stories, the novel showcases the significant impact of Chinese theaters and Cantonese opera on modern American social culture, while also highlighting the admirable spirit of mutual support, resilience, and courage demonstrated by a generation of Chinese immigrants abroad.