In 1904, the city of Dairen became Japan's first colony in Machuria. It was a foothold and example for the Empire's plans of territorial expansion. But the new prosperity was not shared by all the colonial citizens. "Blue Sky, Red Tears" follows the life of an illegitimate Chinese girl named Lin Baixue. Born from a secret affair between a high ranking Japanese official and his Manchurian housemaid, Baixue struggles to find her identity within two societies that each view her as an outcast. As she comes of age during the 1930s in China, the secrets in her household continue to mount. Baixue dreams of a life in Japan on the eve a war that will envelop all of Asia.