Setting in the late 1940s, during the Chinese civil war, Shanghai Swings tells parallel stories of Caiqin and Meijuan, two dance hostesses who gradually step into two different paths in an epoch of dramatic social changes.

In just one decade, Caiqin and Meijuan had gone through the prohibition on Shanghai Ballrooms, the Kuomintang’s retreat, the Communist Party coming to power, and the establishment of a Socialist state. While Meijuan chose to reform herself to fit in with the new society, Caiqin stuck to her obstinate fantasy about living in an old world where being a hostess was still a glorious occupation.