Ai-Ming tells the story of her family in revolutionary China, from the crowded teahouses in the first days of Chairman Mao's ascent and the events leading to the Beijing demonstrations of 1989. It is a history of revolutionary idealism, music and silence, in which three musicians, the shy and brilliant composer Sparrow, the violin prodigy Zhuli and the enigmatic pianist Kai, struggle during China's relentless Cultural Revolution to remain loyal to one another; and to the music they have devoted their lives to.