This novel, set against the background of 1960s and 1970s Hong Kong, offers a vivid record of how Hong Kong Chinese defended their “Chinese” identity in British Hong Kong, before the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the issue of 1997 loomed its threatening shadow.

Though the central character, Ai-Lin’s, parents are Chinese Indonesians, and several generations of their families were rooted in Indonesia, they consider themselves ethnically and culturally Chinese. Hence they refuse to give Ai-Lin an English name even after though they send her to a Catholic English school, which they believe will provide her with the best education. That they guard their “Chinese Walls” severely, even to the extent of regressivity, is perhaps symbolised by the incestuous

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Citation: Lai, Amy. "Chinese Walls". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 November 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12472, accessed 21 November 2024.]