Nishang Xiangjiang is a transmigration novel for women, set in 1970s Hong Kong. It tells the story of Lin Wei, a modern fashion designer who unexpectedly transmigrates to Hong Kong in 1978 and becomes a “touch-base immigrant” who swam there from the mainland. With her ahead-of-her-time aesthetic and design sensibilities, she rises from a garment worker in Kowloon Walled City to build her own fashion empire.
The story weaves together period drama, workplace entrepreneurship, fashion, and romantic entanglements, depicting Hong Kong society in the 1970s and the development of its fashion industry. As she builds her business, the heroine faces a host of challenges, including extortion by local gangsters, competition from other designers, and the difficulties of her uncertain identity. She also becomes embroiled in a complicated emotional relationship with Song Ziming, an heir to a Hong Kong tycoon family and a buyer for Peninsula Department Store.
At its heart, the story focuses on a woman’s growth and career struggles. Through fashion design, it captures the spirit and changing times of an era.
