The Soong family was a political dynasty in China that reached the highest levels of power. This film follows the lives of the three Soong sisters, who were educated in America and return to China. Ching-ling marries Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary founder of modern China, Ai-ling marries a powerful businessman, and May-ling marries Chiang Kai-shek, China's leader during World War II. All three women exert a strong influence on their nation, in this compelling historical drama that had censorship problems while filming in mainland China.

One loved money, one loved power, and one loved China...

Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, and Vivan Woo play three of the most famous women in contemporary Chinese history in Mabel Cheung's award-winning The Soong Sisters. Educated in the United States, sisters Soong Ai Ling, Soong Ching Ling, and Soong Mei Ling were modern, forward-thinking women born in the turbulence of the Chinese civil war period. Seeing the world in different ways, each sister resolutely walked her own path and marked her name in Chinese history. Married to three of the most powerful men in China, the Soong Sisters wielded unprecedented wealth and power, but revolution would tear apart their country and their family.

Practical and resourceful, the eldest sister Ai Ling (Michelle Yeoh) married H.H. Kung, the richest man in the country. She had little concern for ideology and politics, other than their effects on business and family. The idealistic Ching Ling (Maggie Cheung) married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China. Widowed at a young age, she selflessly dedicated her entire life to bettering the lives of her countrymen. The clever and forceful Mei Ling (Vivian Woo) married generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek, placing her at odds with sister Ching Ling, and eventually fled China for Taiwan in the aftermath of the revolution.