Tough As Fine Silk

Tough as Fine Silk is a fast-paced, intricate and subtly alluring tale of love, betrayal and a journey through China’s colorful, fascinating and monumental history.


Michael Sorensen, a young Californian, has a serendipitous as well as frightening encounter on China’s Great Wall. A beautiful young Chinese woman, Li Juan, trips on a steep stairway above him and falls literally into his arms. If he hadn’t caught her, Juan could have been killed.


Michael works in Beijing as an electronics engineer. Juan is the star attraction at Beijing’s elegant Blue Moon night club. The club owners’ most precious asset is Juan – gorgeous, sociable, self-educated and independent.


Juan decides to leave the Blue Moon for a day job to spend more time with Michael. Shortly thereafter, with seeming intent, a hit-and-run accident totals Michael’s car. He is shaken, but unharmed.  Hearing about the accident, Juan is terrified. After some contemplation, she believes that her former bosses may mean Michael harm and her as well.


The couple flees Beijing. Leaving everything behind, they embark on a long train journey to Guangzhou that takes them through China’s ancient and recent past. With greater distance from Beijing, the couple feels safer and falls passionately in love. Ultimately it is Juan, embodying her unfathomable country, who causes events to take unexpected and traumatic turns.