Daughters of Shandong

Mount Davis is a refugee camp funded by the British government, which does not wish to speak out against China’s Communist government directly. All Hai knows of Britain is that “it was a wealthy country that was powerful enough to steal our land” (218).

They go to the immigration office to get ID cards and meet Mr. Chong, who misses his own two daughters still in the north. Mount Davis is “an ugly hillside warming with unwashed and unkempt men with hollow eyes and broken expectations” (220). They meet a young Nationalist soldier, Lin Biao-Wu, whose leg was amputated due to an injury in the war. They bond as fellow Northerners. Many of the displaced don’t call themselves refugees, instead considering their situation only temporary.

One day, a severe rainstorm devastates the camp, and the survivors scavenge whatever of value they can find. Di finds a writing brush, and Hai thinks again about having her own calligraphy stand.

Mom learns it is difficult to get entry permits to Taiwan and that they must be arranged by someone already there. Mr. Chong decides to return to the mainland to find his family, and Hai envies his daughters to have a father who loves them so much. She thinks of her own father, reflecting how, “[m]y dark heart was in a constant battle between the child in me who wanted to believe the best of my father and the survivor in me who knew that I couldn’t rely on him” (232).

Mom thinks they will eventually get to Taiwan, but when Biao-Wu tries to go there, the Nationalist government sends him back because he is disabled. He manages to convey a letter they sent with him, but Hai thinks, “Taiwan must be the perfect place for Father […] a land settled by powerful men who saved only themselves and those they deemed worthy” (234).

The camp becomes more crowded, and they need to share a room. Everyone gets lice. Then they receive a letter from Nai Nai telling them not to come to Taiwan: Father has met a nurse and is going to remarry. The girls are angry, but Hai does her best to support her mother, who is devastated. Mom blames herself, but Hai asserts that it is their father who has let them down.

Hai feels that Nai Nai’s letter has at least given them closure. She thinks, “Though his definitive abandonment of us was frightening, there was also a freedom in finally burning that bridge” (240). Mom gets a job at a match factory, and the family befriends a British aid worker, Anita, who supplies Hai with paper.

Hai sets up a stand near the post office and offers lower prices to write letters. The other vendors heckle her, but Hai can buy food. As her family enjoys the treat, she reflects, “I felt proud that I could buy us a fragment of happiness” (243-4). Taiwan reduces the number of Nationalist army veterans it will take, encouraging Biao-Wu to decide to stay in Hong Kong.

A letter arrives from Uncle Jian, saying he is writing again because he had not heard back from his previous letter. He offers to get the family entry permits to Taiwan. Hai can’t believe the news. She shows Di, who tries to tear the letter up. For Mom, the letter is a miracle. Di and Hai fight because Di doesn’t want to go to Taiwan. Di says, “Whatever happens, I want to do it on my own, not through the Ang charity” (255).

The family argues, and as Hai and Di fight, Hai sees Di still has one of her trading cards. She realizes she has not heard her sister sing since they left Zhucheng. Hai thinks, “Maybe Mom and I would struggle, but given enough time, the warrior girl who’d replaced my songbird sister could rule this city” (260).

The wealthy residents of Victoria Peak complain about the camp at Mount Davis; the refugees will be resettled at Rennie’s Mill, three hours away. The Cantonese name means Hanging Neck Ridge. Di again doesn’t want to leave Hong Kong, but Hai is starting to hope Uncle Jian can get them permits. She wants to go to school and have the small comforts they’ve been without for so long. Di wants to preserve her freedom, but freedom comes at a cost.

Mom feels she has finally done something right, saying, “At least now I know you are on your way back to the life that you deserve—the life that I want you to have” (267). Hai thinks the only life she wants is one where her mother and sisters are happy.

In June 1950, during the Dragon Boat Festival, a group of marchers comes through shouting Communist slogans. The residents of Mount Davis, Nationalist sympathizers, attack them. Days later, the residents are relocated to Rennie’s Mill.

Hai is dismayed at the barren sight of the place and the tents being erected for shelter. She thinks, “Like Di, I too was tired of moving—tired of breaking bridges each time and leaving pieces of my heart with people whom I would never see again” (272). The family has their own tent and small rations, but Mom shares what they have with others, just as she did in Zhucheng. In return, others help them.

Di and Hai forage for fever vine to supplement the rice and fantasize about catching a boar and having pork to eat. Biao-Wu joins the camp as well. Hai doesn’t really believe she’ll catch a boar but believes she “needed [to have] something to work toward, something that [she] could control” (281). Lan learns to walk, though limping, and Hai thinks of her as having the strength of Shandong wheat and the resilience of Northern flowers.

Biao-Wu turns down an opportunity to go to Taiwan. He hopes in time to return to the mainland to find his mother. Around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mom gets their entry tickets. Hai feels numb; she didn’t expect this to happen. To Hai, “Father was a nebulous entity, more of a concept than an actual person” (285). They say goodbye to their friends and take a truck to the harbor.