The book is about 12 American tourists who travel to China and Burma.

[2] Tan says in her "Note to the Reader" that she drew inspiration for her work from a collection of "automatic writing... messages from the unseen world".

[3] The story concerns a group of American tourists travelling the Burma Road from China to Myanmar, and the comic confusions that occur when they are kidnapped by a group of Karen people who believe one of the American teenagers to be a prophesied savior.

[4] The story is told through the omniscient first person narrative of Bibi Chen, the tour leader who unexpectedly dies before the trip takes place and who continues to watch over her friends as they journey towards their fate.

The novel explores the hidden strengths of the tourists, set in the uneasy political situation in Burma.