Lisa, daughter from a good Vienna family, falls in love with the Chinese prince Sou-Chong. The couple want to lead their life as a couple in China, but the cultural differences are soon revealed as unsurmountable and their love fails as a consequence. The prince is ultimately left only to conclude sadly: "Always keep smiling..." - even when your heart is at its most despondent. Franz Lehár created beguilingly beautiful music, making this work one of the most well-known and most frequently performed operettas worldwide.