In 1880s Northern China, a severe drought threatens the livelihood of a strong-willed young woman and her nomadic family. One morning, she is awakened by her father and sold to a man bound for San Francisco, California. There, she is sold for a second time to a man who does not identify himself. After the transaction, the man takes the woman to an elegant hotel, where he locks her inside her room. The bewildered woman washes her face and drapes a red wedding scarf over her head. When the man returns, however, he explains that he is not her intended husband, but rather Li Po, or “Jim,” her escort. Jim and the young woman grow close as they travel by mule train to a gold-mining town in Idaho. At the end of the long journey, Jim introduces the Chinese woman to her new “husband,” Hong King, a saloon manager. She is dismayed at Hong King’s aged appearance, and becomes irritated when he changes her name from “Lalu” to “Polly.” Later, he forces her to have sex with him. In the morning, one of the local prostitutes dresses Polly in elegant clothes and arranges her hair. Charlie Bemis, the saloon owner, walks the made-up woman through the town of Warren’s Diggins, describing the settlement’s neighborhoods and establishments. That evening, the saloon is crowded with men eager to see the beautiful Polly, who has unwittingly become a prostitute. However, the Chinese woman provokes a commotion by denying her first customer. She insists she will not be a “wife” to a “hundred men,” and threatens to kill herself if Hong King does not show her respect. Charlie Bemis interrupts the dispute, reminding Hong King that forcing Polly to be a prostitute, within the confines of the saloon, would break their lease agreement. Frustrated, Hong King relents and tells Polly she will work as his servant to earn back the money he spent to buy her. In the weeks that follow, Polly executes menial tasks under her master’s watchful eye. One night, Charlie Bemis dances with Polly, rescuing her from the advances of rough men at the saloon. He attempts to communicate with the woman, who speaks little English, and advises her to tell the men she is not a prostitute. He gives Polly a knife for her own protection, and she smiles in appreciation. Sometime later, while running errands for Hong King, Polly is delighted to discover “Chinatown.” She enters an apothecary and sees Charlie receiving acupuncture. However, she is too shy to speak to him. On another day, Polly stops at a brothel to collect laundry and demonstrates her increasing command of English while learning to make an apple pie. As she washes laundry in the nearby river, Charlie appears with a bouquet of flowers. Polly says little, but reveals that Hong King’s name for her, “Polly,” is merely an epithet. Later, Polly argues with Charlie about her desire to escape back to China, but he points out that she does not have the means to live as a free woman. A few days later, Polly’s initial escort to Idaho, Li Po “Jim,” proudly returns to Warren’s Diggins township with citizenship papers and declares his love for Polly. Later, Jim attempts to buy Polly, but Hong King sets the price at a staggering $3,000. However, Jim agrees to come back to town with the money. That night, he and Polly make love. In the morning, the lovers exchange tender goodbyes. While scrubbing the saloon floor later that day, Polly finds a small piece of gold. Hong King accuses her of stealing and punishes her with sex slavery. That night, the miners buy tickets to have sex with the Chinese woman, but Charlie Bemis interrupts Hong King’s plans, and invites the hustler to play a game of poker. As the two play cards and become intoxicated, Charlie stakes the deed to his saloon against Polly’s freedom. He wins the game and escorts Polly to his home, kissing her passionately. She is upset by his provocative behavior, and Charlie falls on his bed in a drunken daze. The next morning, he tells Polly she is welcome to stay at his house until she decides what to do next. She continues to work her laundry route, pleased that she is finally able to keep her earnings. Charlie sets up a separate bedroom for her, and the two become comfortable domestic companions. Some time later, Jim returns to Warren’s Diggins township. Although Polly is overjoyed at the sight of her former lover, Jim perceives her living arrangement with Charlie as a betrayal and leaves without speaking to her. Heartbroken, Polly decides to move out of Charlie’s house, but Charlie is enraged by her plan to become manager of the town boarding house. Several months later, Polly overhears a group of American-born miners rallying to drive Chinese immigrants out of town. Although Charlie stands up for the immigrants, he is drunk and the miners ridicule him. Later, Charlie encounters Polly leaving his house, and finds that she has left him two apple pies. The reconciled friends attend a Chinese New Year festival. Amidst the noise of fireworks, a group of American miners shoot their pistols toward the festivities, and Charlie is struck in the face by a stray bullet. Polly sits by his bedside for weeks while he recuperates, and by spring, the two have fallen in love. Relations between the white prospectors and the Chinese continue to deteriorate, until an official decree states that the immigrants must leave town. Hong King stubbornly refuses to vacate the saloon but Charlie convinces him to flee to San Francisco. Back at Charlie’s house, Polly maps a route to return to her family in China. Charlie tries to convince her to marry him, but she tearfully declines. As she rides her horse out of town, Polly crosses paths with Hong King, who boasts about starting a new life in San Francisco. Polly shuns her former tormentor, turning her horse around and riding back to Charlie, with whom she spends the rest of her life.