Leo Zwirn, a Soviet cultural expert and life artist, is reassigned to China in the early 1960s. Following the break in Sino-Soviet friendship, all experts must return to the USSR—except for Zwirn, who is delegated to a forgotten museum in Xi'an, the ancient capital. It is the time of the Cultural Revolution, and the museum is set to be closed as a backward institution. To prevent this, allies within the museum come together, employing clever tactics and imagination to undermine this decision. The truth must be handled simply. A sensational discovery, namely abstract drawings by the young Mao Zedong, emerges and is effectively showcased in the museum. But are they really authentic? And how can the suspicious, unscrupulous, and power-hungry political commissar, the Iron Wu, be involved in another project that could conjure up an art historical wonder: the creation of the immortal army of Terracotta Warriors, which signifies the superiority of the Chinese people and, incidentally, provides a globally admired boost to tourism and smoke-free industry.