Adult Chinese-American siblings Alexander, Liz, Victoria and Meimei reluctantly converge on their hometown of Seattle after their mother, Linda Xiao, passes away from her bout with cancer, about which they didn't even know until after her passing. "Reluctant" as they all disliked their mother - who they called the "Dragon Lady" as she showed them little love while she was alive and who pitted each against the others as they grew up - and have been estranged from each other because of it. Despite each having successful professional lives - Alexander being a cosmetic surgeon, Liz a magazine columnist, Victoria a real estate agent, and Meimei an actress in Chinese ninja movies - each sibling carries personal baggage, much associated with their mother's ways. Married Alexander, much like his now deceased father before him, has a mistress on the side, about which his ex-beauty pageant queen wife Cindy knows. Liz's son Sam passed away, the stress and grief from which led to her breaking-up with her Caucasian husband Michael. Victoria was forced to break-up with the only man she ever loved because he was black, that relationship which produced a son, Jason. And lesbian Meimei and her partner Dede want to have a baby, and are looking for a sperm donor. Mrs. Xiao's last wish was for her family to come together to hold a traditional week long Chinese funeral for her. Being brought up "western" (with a couple of them not even knowing their native tongue), the siblings must rely on the Xiao's longtime housekeeper and caregiver, a Jewish woman named Viola, to tell them how to proceed with the funeral. As the week progresses, the siblings learn of many things not previously known about their mother and their family in general, some of it having to do with another funeral attendee from Beijing, a man named Chow Lin. But the biggest secret of the the family is kept by Viola, who reveals all, with some help by the spirit of Mrs. Xiao, by week's end.