Impoverished immigrants sailing across the oceans in search of a better life is nothing new. But when those "immigrants" are arriving on the shores of China, we already have a new twist to this well-worn tale. 

Shanghai Calling is a romantic comedy that follows the misadventures of a Chinese-American lawyer who relocates from New York to Shanghai. Sam Chao (Daniel Henney) is a rising New York lawyer who gets transferred - against his will - to Shanghai to close a production deal with a hi-tech businessman for a revolutionary "smart" phone.

Fish out of water

Sam, even though he is of Chinese descent, feels like a fish out of water in China. He believes that New York is the center of the world. He is proud that he has "never been further north than 79th Avenue" and describes himself as only "technically" Chinese. He speaks no Putonghua, has no idea about Chinese culture and, even worse, quickly discovers that one of his biggest client's products is being pirated all over town. To cope with this, he seeks help from some fellow expats, including Amanda Wilson (Elize Coupe), a relocation specialist and Sam's soon-to-be romantic interest, and Daniel Cafferty (Bill Paxton), the "mayor" of Shanghai's "Americatown."

Written and directed by Daniel Hsia, Shanghai Calling was made for less than three million dollars. Both English and Chinese are spoken in the movie.

"Shanghai Calling is my love letter to Shanghai, the city where both of my parents come from and that I have immensely grown fond of over the last couple of years," said the movie's director Daniel Hsia, a former television comedy writer.

Hsia's idea for the movie was sparked five years ago by his close friend living an expatriate life in Beijing. "Before he moved to China, he had never been abroad before, and couldn't speak a word in Putonghua," said Hsia. "Two years later, he was fluent in Putonghua and was full of funny stories about what it is like to be an American abroad."

The director spent a couple of months wandering around Shanghai researching, and interviewing everyone he could meet. "I talked to Americans, Chinese and Europeans, taxi drivers, journalists and bankers; in fact people from all walks of life. And the story very quickly came together," he said.

The movie's producer is Janet Yang, an accomplished Hollywood executive with long experience of China-based projects. She has previously worked on Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987). Yang commented that while many American movies about China tend to focus on "ancient" China, she wanted to make one that shows life in contemporary China.

"Shanghai Calling is a fresh story, something that has never been made before," she said. "It's a believable movie for both Chinese and American audiences."

It wasn't the first time for Yang to shoot a movie in Shanghai. "Shanghai is a very cinematic city. There's so much history here and it's very modern at the same time. It's a great place to work," she added.

Great locations

Hsia said that Shanghai has great shooting locations. "Everywhere you go is different," he said. "My favorite place in Shanghai is the Bund, which is so beautiful at night. When I see the colonial buildings on one side of the river, and the skyscrapers of Pudong New Area on the other, I remember why I love Shanghai. It's breathtaking."

Some scenes in the movie were inspired by Hsia's personal experiences. There is a scene where the lead character Sam gets in a taxi and hands the address to the driver, only to realize that his destination was just in front of him. "The same thing happened to me as well. My Chinese is not fluent and I couldn't understand the driver. I was so angry I spent money on something I didn't need to," he said.

Other scenes were contributed by Yang, who is, herself, Chinese-American. "In one part of the movie, the owner of the restaurant keeps talking to Sam in Chinese, because he looks Chinese. But Sam doesn't speak any and has no idea what the man is saying to him. I've been in similar situations like that before," Yang said.

"This is a film about contemporary China and Shanghai plays the leading role in it," Hsia said. "So much is being said in the media about China these days and still many Americans have no idea what is actually happening there, and what China looks like. I hope that Shanghai Calling will introduce Shanghai to the world and at the same time will show Chinese people what all these foreigners are doing in their country."

Shanghai Calling has already been shown at the Shanghai International Film Festival, and will be released in cinemas across China on August 10.