Wanting to see for herself the reality of her "distant sisters," documentary director May May returns to China decades after emigrating to the US and tells the stories of four very different Chinese women in Spilled Water: the high-powered lawyer, Li Hua who works in an international firm in Beijing; the factory electrician, Liu Ying, working in a traditionally male job; the rural woman, Pu Ruixia, who against all odds becomes a teacher; and Ou Huaqing, a Dong ethnic minority performing artist.  The stories of these four women not only inspire reflection on the lives, changing roles, and social status of women in the context of China's economic transformation, but also illustrate China's intensifying socio-economic disparities across the nation.      

We learn that socio-economic and cultural circumstances have propelled these women to take on non-traditional roles: Li Hua and Liu Ying are divorced and caring for their daughters; Ou Huaqing is married with a son living in her husband's family home. For all three, their identity as a mother is primary in their own minds and those around her.  These women, like most across the world, bear the double burden of child rearing and serving the family while working or pursuing a career. Though their opportunities have increased, their lives are circumscribed by many gendered restrictions, such as access to education and better-paid traditionally male jobs in the modern economy.