This lovely picture book with illustrations using the motifs and subtle colours of silk paintings, scrolls and screens, tells the story of a young princess in Ancient China who must bid farewell to the splendours of her father's kingdom to travel to far-off Khotan where she is to marry the King. In quiet rebellion, she smuggles the secret of silk-making out of China as a precious reminder of her past. The rhythmic text draws on traditional images from Chinese poetry and an afterword explains the history of silk-making.