1855, the height of the Australian gold fever, coming just a few years after the peak of the California gold rush. For the Chinese, this new opportunity is known as the 'New Gold Mountain'. Wei Shing, the intriguingly charismatic – and occasionally ruthless – 'headman' leader of the White Hills Chinese mining camp, struggles to maintain the fragile harmony between the Chinese and European diggers. But, when Shing discovers the murdered body of a European woman, he uncovers a series of connections to the Chinese camp with implications disastrous both for himself and his people.
