The Chinese workers are led in and a disguised Lai Gwan challenges Manli the Bookman’s authority. He seeks revenge by assigning Lai Gwan to the most dangerous work in the camp: planting dynamite on the mountain face while suspended in a basket.

Manli and Lai Gwan decided to make a life together in Canada. As they collect and bury the bones of Chinese workers they remember all the dead, including Ama and Nichol.

Whites celebrate the finishing of the railway and officially dismiss the Chinese, who blame Manli for abandoning them.

Workers watch the train come to Eagle Pass - while the whites are happy, the Chinese realize there is no more work for them.

In the explosion rubble, Lai Gwan and Nichol declare their love depsite Ama's warnings. Nichol dies as the workers rescue Lai Gwan and Manli, who declares his renewed love for his daughter.

As Manli and Lai Gwan argue about their situation, Lai Gwan tells of Ama's death, which crushes Manli. He decides to set the next explosive charge himself. Nichol and Lai Gwan recognise their love and follow Manli into the tunnel.

Lai Gwan dreams of the conflicting desires of her mother, father, Nichol and herself.

The Chinese workers decide to strike, led by Lai Gwan, after another death with no proper funeral. The strike is put down and Nichol stops Lai Gwan from being hung by Manli. She discovers Manli is her father.

While she is bathing in a stream, Nichol disovers Lai Gwan is a woman - she asks for his help to find her father and to keep her secret. Manli interrupts them before Nichol decides what to do.

In Ottawa, Canadian politicians and moguls toast the launch of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Railway Foreman James Nichol encourages the workers until the impenetrable Rocky Mountains block their way. The Bookman comes to supply the cheap Chinese labour that will allow Nichol to conquer “The Great Divide.”

Aboard a ship taking Chinese workers to British Columbia - they are hungry & thirsty. Ah Lum starts a fight with Lai Gwan, who is disguised as a young man, but they stop as the coast comes into view.

Before dying, Ama tells Lai Gwan of her father, gives her a wedding dress, and urges her to go to North America to find her father - but always remember Chinese traditions.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Filled with regret over his life, Manli sings of an abandoned love.