Close to arriving, Jing-Mei begins to feel anxious and makes an effort to fully understand that there is a conflict because her thoughts are changing from thinking of being Chinese to continuously questioning her heritage. She can feel the skin of her forehead tingle, her blood rushing “through a new course,” and her bones “aching with familiar old pain” which makes her think that her mother was right all along because she is “becoming Chinese” (Tan 129). Jing-Mei, the narrator, says that the minute she enters Shenzhen, China, she feels “different” (Tan 129). ![]() With an incomplete feeling, Jing-Mei travels overseas to China with her father where she is able to understand the importance of her mother’s words and begins to evolve in terms of accepting her Chinese identity.Īs Jing-Mei travels to China with her father, she begins to accept the reality of her being Chinese. She feels an obligation to full-full her mother’s wish to meet her twin step-sisters who were separated by their common mother during the invasion of China and feels like she should ensure if she has any connection to her Chinese heritage. After her mother’s passing Jing-Mei becomes fully aware that she must go to China. When Suyuan passes away, Jing-Mei finally gets it. The meaning of these words were not understood by Jing-Mei at least not at first. Suyuan told Jing-Mei, “Someday you will see, … is in your blood waiting to be let go” (Tan 129). Jing-Mei’s mother named Suyuan, however, believed that “Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese” (Tan 129). It is displayed as if she does not care about her Chinese heritage at all, but in reality, Jing-Mei just feels incomplete. Jing-Mei clearly feels left-out and like she does not belong. We get an idea of her denial towards her heritage when Jing-Mei says that her mother once said “Cannot be helped” when Jing-Mei “vigorously denied” that she had any Chinese below her skin (Tan 129). ![]() For this reason, Jing-Mei feels like she has never known what it is like to be Chinese and she denies her Chinese heritage because she feels no connection to it. Because she grew up in America, Jing-Mei became accustomed to the American culture and so it was difficult for Jing-Mei to relate to what it means to be Chinese. Growing up in San Francisco was something that hugely impacted Jing-Mei. ![]() Jing-Mei is a thirty-six-year-old American-Chinese woman who grew up in San Francisco, California.
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