Born into a family that greatly suffered under the Maoist regime, as a young girl she was made to sing for the  party propaganda.
Her exceptional drive and athletic skills, however, first won her a place at the prestigious  Shanghai School of Physical Education, then with the Chinese National Wushu team.
Hundreds of millions  young  Chinese  athletes  compete  for  those  positions,  admission  being  subject  to  the  fiercest  selection  procedures and discipline.
Li Rong Mei’s homecoming and diary-keeping bring her back to her roots, to the heart  of her culture, and disclose the philosophical foundations of her discipline. 
Travelling  across  four  of  the  Great  Continent’s  regions,  she  visits  her  surviving  family,  her  elderly  Taoist  teachers, her former team members, the baffling 25,0000 students school around the Shaolin monastery, the wonderful mountain of Wudangand  finally the tomb of her great master Fu Zhonwen.
In this setting of extraordinary transformations, of astonishing  performances of the best martial artists, the personal and professional events in the life of the Winter Flower  help highlight the fundamental aspects of the country’s culture and history where past and present co-exist.