The Joy Luck Club – Flashcards
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An-Mei Hsu Chapters
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Scar and Magpies
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Lindo Jong Chapters
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The Red Candle and Double Face
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Ying-Ying St. Clair Chapters
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The Moon Lady and Waiting Between the Trees
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Jing-Mei Woo Chapters
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The Joy Luck Club, Two Kinds, Best Quality, and A Pair of Tickets
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Rose Hsu Jordan Chapters
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Half and Half and Without Wood
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Waverly Jong Chapters
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Rules of the Game and Four Directions
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Lena St. Clair Chapters
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The Voice From the Wall and Rice Husband
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Woo Mother and Daughter
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Suyuan and Jing-Mei
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Hsu Mother and Daughter
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An-Mei and Rose
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Jong Mother and Daughter
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Lindo and Waverly
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St. Clair Mother and Daughter
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Ying-Ying and Lena
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Canning Woo
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Jing-Mei's father and Suyuan's husband
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Popo
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An-Mei's Grandmother who told scary stories and banished her daughter Taitai (An-Mei's mother)
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Taitai
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An-Mei's mother who cut off her flesh for Popo, was banished for being a concubine
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Amah
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nursemaid who took care of Ying-Ying like she was her own child
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Clifford
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Lena's father and Ying-Ying's husband
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Ted
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Rose's husband
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Harold
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Lena's husband
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Rich
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Waverly's husband
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Feathers From a Thousand Li Away Chapters
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The Joy Luck Club, Scar, The Red Candle, and The Moon Lady
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The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates Chapters
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Rules of the Game, The Voice From the Wall, Half and Half, and Two Kinds
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American Translation Chapters
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Rice Husband, Four Directions, Without Wood, and Best Quality
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Queen Mother of the Western Skies Chapters
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Magpies, Waiting Between the Trees, Double Face, and A Pair of Tickets
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Feathers From a Thousand Li Away
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lack of communication between mothers and daughters, mothers being careful of what they wish for (wished for culturally American daughters and got them too American), shows the good intentions of mothers for their daughters that didn't turn out right, swan represents hope for their daughters' futures
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The Joy Luck Club Plot
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club started by Jing-Mei's mother Suyuan as a way to forget past sorrows and hope for Joy and luck in the future, played Mahjong and ate food, later began investing in the stockmarket, Jing-Mei is told her half sisters are alive and that she will go to China to meet them
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The Joy Luck Club Connection to Feathers From a Thousand Li Away
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TheAunties look at Jing-Mei and see their own daughters who they fear have become "too American". They can't connect to their daughters because of the lack the communication they desired when they first came to America
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Scar Plot
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Taitai (An-Mei's mother) is a disgrace to her family because she is a concubine, they say she is a ghost because she is dead to them, don't let An-Mei speak to her, Taitai returns when Popo (her mother) is dying, cuts off some of her flesh and puts it in soup to honor her mother and reveal that her mother is a part of her bones, regive the sacrifice of birth
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Scar Connection to Feathers From a Thousand Li Away
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lack of connection between An-Mei and her mother, brought up differently, meaning that they both ended up being different people, hard for them to relate to and understand each other, your Mother is a part of you, American daughters don't understand this because of culture difference
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The Red Candle Plot
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Lindo was arranged to marry a spoiled boy named Tyan-yu, Lindo's mother gave her a red jade necklace so she always remembers to make her family proud, she started living with her arranged husband's family after a flood drove her family out of their home, before her wedding Lindo has a self realization of who she is (strong like the wind) and that she would never forget herself but still keep her promise to her parents, blows out the red candle that symbolizes her marriage in the middle of the night, pretended to have a dream of the candle blowing out and used specific evidence (birthmark on husband's back, pregnant servent girl, teeth falling out) to get herself out of her marriage honorably
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The Red Candle Connection to Feathers From a Thousand Li Away
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Waverly doesn't listen or keep promises, Lindo kept her promise to her parents by staying with Tyan-yu, Waverly raised differently than her Lindo so she doesn't undersand this obedience to her parents, Lindo's fear of her Grandchildren forgetting her (feather being passed down & forgotten)
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The Moon Lady Plot
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Ying-Ying wasn't allowed to chase dragonflies like the boys, Amah took care of her, went on boat with her family for the Moon festival, sees a bird with a ring around it's neck (free like her but not able to do what is in it's nature), got lost during the festival and ended up watching the Story of the Moon Lady Play, lost her innocence when she discovered the Moon Lady was played by a man, wished to the Moon Lady to be found (physically and mentally)
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The Moon Lady Connection to Feathers From a Thousand Li Away
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Overtime Ying-Ying lost herself and her innocence, unable to connect with Lena, wants Lena to understand she was lost and that she doesn't know who she is, Lena doesn't really see her or know her, lack of understanding and communication
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The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
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mother knows best, daughter refuses to listen, goes against the mother's wishes and ends up in the situation their mother predicted
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Rules of the Game Plot
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Waverly chose her present at the Christmas party strategically like a chess player, got lifesavers ("saved" her life from being ordinary), Lindo teaches her about invisible strength (secret confidence when playing chess, "strongest wind isn't seen"), Lau Po teaches her to play Chess, Lindo gives her a Chang (red jade necklace) but Waverly doesn't understand the importance of it, Waverly gets annoyed with Lindo for showing her off at the market and runs away
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Rules of the Game Connection to The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
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Waverly misunderstood Lindo's pride and bragging, sees Lindo as the enemy, Waverly wants her achievements to be her own and is annoyed with Lindo always watching her while she practiced, rebelling against her mother's wishes
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The Voice from the Wall Plot
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Ying-Ying tells Lena the story of the Death of a Thousand Cuts (great-grandfather sentencing beggar to death who comes back as a ghost and says it is worse on the other side and pulls him through the wall), Ying-Ying sees danger in everything, Ying-Ying frantically rearranges furniture because it isn't balance (Lena doesn't understand), Ying-Ying is pregnant and loses the child then goes crazy (in Lena's eyes), Teresa from next door pranks her mother and when they are arguing Lena realizes it is still a form of communication and way of showing their love while Lena and Ying-Ying don't communicate at all (their side of the wall is worse)
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The Voice from the Wall Connection to The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
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Lena thinks Ying-Ying was crazy (actually frustrated with losing identity and being mistranslated), Lena learned to prepare for the worst from Ying-Ying's paranoia. Ying-Ying knows the dangers of the world but is unable to communicate these dangers and warn Lena, daughter in the parable doesn't understand the danger of riding her bike around the corner that her Mother tries to make her know
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Half and Half Plot
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An-Mei is always very paranoid because of the Twenty-Six Malignant Gates, Rose and her family were at the beach and her little brother Bing drowned, everyone blames themselves, Rose wishes she had her parents Nenking (ability to do what you set your mind to), An-Mei and Rose go back to the beach to search for Bing, An-Mei prays and throws her ring into the sea getting her hopes up, Rose discovers that in the Bible under the table (to balance room) An-Mei wrote "Deaths" with Bing's name under it
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Half and Half Connection to The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
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Rose doesn't want to listen to An-Mei's reactions to her divorce with Ted, thinks she's wrong and doesn't know what she's talking about, An-Mei predicts Ted's "monket business" and their divorce
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Two Kinds Plot
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Suyuan wants Jing-Mei to be a prodigy, makes her take piano lessons with Old Chong (who is deaf), she starts getting away with mistakes and being lazy at practice, Jing-Mei fails at her terrible recital, Suyuan says there are two kinds of daughters (obedient and disobedient), years later (after Suyuan's death) Jing-Mei finds the sonds she was forced to learn, Jing-Mei is the "pleading child" who has finally learned to be "perfectly contented" with her mother's actions of love in her childhood
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Two Kinds Connection to The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates
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Jing-Mei thinks Suyuan doesn't know anything and is fed up with her trying to make her a piano prodigy, Jing-Mei "Falls off bike" at her recital when she fails, always tries to prove her mother wrong
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American Translation
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daughter is very materialistic and modern, mother is old and traditional, mother sees a part of herself in her daughter, encourages the daughter to begin reflecting on her life or a certain aspect of it, look in the mirror and see your past (mother) and future (child)
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Rice Husband Plot
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Ying-Ying predicts bad things that happen, Lena married a rich man named Harold (lives very materialistic life), when Lena was little Ying-Ying told her she will marry a bad man if she doesn't eat every grain of rice, Lena thinks it is a man boy named Arnold, decides to leave more rice in the bowl to kill Arnold (led to her being anorexic), Arnold died years later and Lena binges on strawberry ice cream, Harold and Lena divide costs equally (or so she thought), Ying-Ying predicts broken marriage because of the wobbly table, Lena starts fight with Harold and table falls, Ying-Ying asks her why she doesn't stop it
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Rice Husband Connection to American Translation
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Lena reflects on her marriage with Harold (not actually equal), Lena lives a very materialistic life with Harold, always accounting for who bought what, when the wobbly table collapses, Ying-Ying asks why she doesn't stop it, makes Lena reflect on her marriage
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Four Directions Plot
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Waverly thinks Lindo hates Rich and is always trying to manipulate her, brings Lindo to her house but only criticizes the furniture, Waverly stopped playing chess when she was littler because she was tired of Lindo, restarted and Lindo didn't hover, Waverly started losing matches, Waverly gets them all to have dinner together and she thinks it goes terribly, goes to confront Lindo the next day and has heart to heart where truths come out, wants to bring Lindo on honeymoon to China
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Four Directions Connection to American Translation
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Waverly starts a new beginning and has a new perspective of Lindo after having an emotional conversation with her, Lindo says she doesn't hate Rich and that she never tried to manipulate Waverly in any way, this makes Waverly want to bring Lindo on her honeymoon to China with her husband Rich,
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Without Wood Plot
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Rose had a nightmare of Mr. Chou yelling at her to listen to her mother, receives divorce papers from Ted in the mail, puts them in drawer (can't decide what to do), An-Mei says Rose is always confused because she doesn't have the wood element, An-Mei helps Rose realize that she needs to stand up to Ted and to get the house from the divorce
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Without Wood Connection to American Translation
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Rose's mother calls her one morning and asks why she doesn't speak up for herself, at first Rose just dismisses it and tells her mother to stop telling her to save her marriage, then Ted calls and she realizes after reflecting on herself what she wants, she tells Ted when he comes over that she's staying in the house
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Best Quality Plot
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Suyuan gave Jing-Mei a green jade necklace of life's importance (Jing-Mei didn't understand it at the time), at New Year celebration dinner with the Jongs Suyuan told Jing-Mei not to take the crab with the missing leg (took it for herself and threw it away, ate sides), Suyuan knew Jing-Mei would try to choose the unlucky crab because while everyone else chooses the best quality Jing-Mei chooses something different, after her mother died Jing-Mei did the dishes just like her and understood her meaning when she has to shoo the cat away just like Suyuan used to
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Best Quality Connection to American Translation
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Necklace causes Jing-Mei to look over the scene at the crab dinner and have a new understanding of Suyuan, trying to see world like Suyuan did, reflection when she does dishes like her mother did and sees the cat shooing it away just as Suyuan did
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Queen Mother of the Western Skies
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mother looks back on her past choices and how they have affected her daughter today, questioning whether her decisions were the right thing, seizes the opportunity to make things right
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Magpies Plot
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An-Mei passed down a story that Popo told her to Rose, Popo told her to enver cry because the turtle would eat it and hatch magpies (birds of joy), tears only fed into other people's happiness, An-Mei left to go live with Taitai (disgraced mother) in her husband Wu Tsing's house, Taitai says her life is shameful as a fourth wife, fifth wife is new and young, second wife gives An-Mei strand of pearls, Taitai teaches An-Mei to realize fake appearances, Second wife often pretends suicide to get more riches, Taitai kills herself in order to empower An-Mei and make sure Wu Tsing will give her a good life (planned death accordingly), An-Mei learned to shout (stood up to second wife, speak up for herself)
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Magpies Connection to Queen Mother of the Western Skies
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An-Mei's mother (Taitai) taught her to see past what is false in people's appearances (Second Wife and Pearl necklace), An-Mei taught Rose to see past Ted's manipulativeness (House & Divorce), An-Mei's mother also taught her to swallow her tears and not speak up for herself (Turtle Story) she only "learns to shout" after her mother kills herself, Rose learns to not speak up for herself in her marriage and divorce with Ted, but An-Mei eventually realizes how her actions have affected Rose and tells her to speak up for what she wants
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Waiting Between the Trees Plot
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Ying-Ying married a bad man who left her, aborted her baby and lost her true self (tiger hiding in the shadows), met Clifford at the shop she worked at and knew she would marry him, wants to cut Lena's tiger spirit free by revealing her past to her
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Waiting Between the Trees Connection to Queen Mother of the Western Skies
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Ying-Ying realizes her mistakes (married bad man who left her, aborted baby, lost herself) and the effect it has on Lena, she wants to help Lena realize her marriage with Harold was broken and that she needs to stand up for herself (table falling and breaking), Ying-Ying never gave Lena her tiger spirit (now has chance to get it right)
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Double Face Plot
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Waverly brings Lindo to her hair stylist, translates for Lindo even though she knows she understands and acts very ashamed of her mother, stylist says the look a like Waverly frowns and Lindo is disappointed because they share the same face, happiness, faults, and future, Lindo's mother used to point out their similar facial features and their meanings, Waverly tells an altered story of how Lindo came to the US, Lindo worked in forutne cookie factory with An-Mei, Waverly's nose is crooked just like Lindo's, decides to ask Waverly what she thinks of how she was raised
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Double Face Connection to Queen Mother of the Western Skies
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Lindo wonders what her mistakes were, what she gained in return, and what she could have done better, wanted Chinese character with American circumstances for Waverly who ends up too American, Lindo wonders if she did it right, decides to ask Waverly to see
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A Pair of Tickets Plot
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Jing-Mei is going to Hong Kong with her father Canning to meet her family and eventually her twin sisters, Canning was too emotional to reply to their letter so he gave it Lindo who replied in the voice of Suyuan, fixes her mistake, Jing-Mei and Canning meet his aunt Aiyi at the airport, takes polaroids with Lili (Aiyi's great granddaughter), stay at westernized hotel and don't have traditional Chinese feast like she wanted, Canning tells Jing-Mei the story of her mother and the twins (left note, jewels, and pictures with them), Jing-Mei meets her half sisters and notices the similarities, brought Suyuan's wishes to life, realizes she is Chinese because of her family
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A Pair of Tickets Connection to Queen Mother of the Western Skies
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the polaroid helps to keep the memories of the good times, Suyuanprobably wonders if she made the right choice to leave her daughters behind, Jing-Mei and ehr sisters are her mother's hopes and dreams for the future, Suyuan's past choice of leaving her daughters behind affected Jing-Mei in that it gave her a new view of her mother and came to see that she is Chinese because of her family and that she is just like her Mother
