The film revolves around four children living in an orphanage in Xinjiang province, China.

The children start learning to tightrope walk, but within a few months, they are judged inadequate by their coach.

Through love and kindness, he turns the children's initial failure at tightrope walking into success.

The film culminates with their performance on a high wire – without a safety net – in front of their entire home town.

Tightrope walking is in this movie a metaphor for how the Uyghurs try to balance between their Muslim faith and living in a communist state, where they are severely restricted in practicing their religion.