Inspired by real events, this is the tale of a quiet Bavarian village experiencing its first encounter with the rest of the universe. Nestled in the Bavarian heartland at the foot of the Alps, the Von der Tann, Inc. factory has dominated the landscape for as long as collective memory can recall. However, since the factory has been handed down to Junior, things have gone steadily downhill and the villagers fear the worst: "The working class is about to become extinct," they moan. What is unimaginable is that Junior might sell the factory, and to foreigners yet. When a delegation of Chinese workers arrives to dismantle the machinery, intending to cart it back to China, for these villagers a Martian craft might just as well have landed. Typically, some try to befriend the Chinese, others watch from afar, still others try to foil the mission and acquire some valuable machinery for themselves. There is no shortage of ethnic stereotyping at work here, but most of the film's satire is at the expense of the Bavarians, in particular two hulking workers (portrayed by Jörg Hube and Hans Brenner) who ultimately come to respect the kind and hard-working Chinese.