Books from China

Set in the mountains of Yunnan, China, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane follows Li-yan, a young woman from the Akha ethnic community whose life is shaped by centuries-old traditions surrounding tea cultivation, marriage, and family. When Li-yan gives birth to a daughter outside marriage, she makes the painful decision to leave her baby near an orphanage rather than follow a tradition that threatens the child’s life. The girl, Haley, is adopted by an American family and grows up far from her biological roots. As the years pass, both mother and daughter struggle with questions about their identities and origins. Connected by their shared heritage and the ancient tea trade, their stories explore motherhood, cultural change, adoption, and the enduring bonds between generations.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a multigenerational memoir tracing the lives of Jung Chang, her mother, and her grandmother against the backdrop of China’s turbulent twentieth-century history. Beginning with her grandmother’s life under imperial rule, the narrative follows her mother’s experiences during the rise of the Communist Party and Chang’s own childhood during the Cultural Revolution. Through their personal stories, the book reveals the profound impact of political upheaval, traditional gender roles, and ideological control on ordinary Chinese families. Chang recounts her family’s experiences of arranged marriage, political persecution, forced labor, and shifting loyalties, illustrating how individual lives become entangled with national history. Combining intimate family memories with historical testimony, the memoir offers a powerful portrait of resilience, sacrifice, and the struggle for personal freedom across three generations of Chinese women.

To Live follows Fugui, the son of a wealthy Chinese landowner whose reckless gambling eventually costs his family its fortune. Forced to abandon his privileged lifestyle, Fugui begins a difficult journey through decades of political and social upheaval in twentieth-century China, including the Chinese Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. As the country undergoes profound transformations, Fugui and his family struggle to survive poverty, political persecution, and personal tragedy. Told through Fugui’s recollections to a travelling folk singer, the novel offers an intimate portrait of ordinary people caught in the forces of history. Despite repeated losses, Fugui continues to endure, finding meaning in the simple act of living. Yu Hua combines stark realism with moments of dark humour and tenderness, exploring family bonds, resilience, and the fragility of human happiness. Ultimately, To Live is a moving reflection on suffering and survival, suggesting that the determination to continue can itself become a form of courage.