Hello everyone, I have amazing news to share with you. We adopted again! It was very unexpected and not anywhere near what I had imagined for the last 20+ years. But it has been an amazing experience and I am so grateful for the whole team of people who made it happen. Mostly Zoey. I’ve Read More
Category: blog post
From Fines to Pennies: Why China’s Childcare Subsidy Won’t Fix a Generation’s Broken Trust
In a bitter twist of history, China—once infamous for punishing families who had more than one child—is now offering the equivalent of $500 a year to coax young adults into having babies. It’s a staggering policy reversal, but one that’s too little, too late for many of the very people the government is now trying Read More
Revisiting The X-Files: “Hell Money” and the Haunted Histories of Chinatown
Like many nerdy couples of a certain age, my husband and I recently decided to rewatch The X-Files—a series I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. I remembered the aliens and conspiracies, the monsters and the moody lighting. But I didn’t remember this episode. Season 3, Episode 19 — “Hell Money” — took me Read More
What China’s Declining Birth Rate Means for the Future of Families
In the last few months, headlines have been quietly warning us: China’s birth rate is in freefall. For the second year in a row, the population has shrunk. And while policy changes have encouraged families to have more children, many are not responding. As someone who lived in China for over a decade—and as an Read More
Coming Home: Life After China, One Step at a Time
It’s been a while since I last posted here. The last time I blogged, we were still living in China—navigating COVID restrictions, using Meituan and Didi like locals, and living a life that, for over a decade, felt like home. Since then, everything has changed. In 2022, we made the difficult decision to return to Read More
The Forgotten Neighbors: Chinese Americans in the Deep South
What Sinners Got So Right As someone who has studied Chinese immigration and written about the untold corners of history, I wasn’t surprised to see a Chinese family in Ryan Coogler’s stunning new film Sinners. I was thrilled. Set in 1930s Mississippi, the film is a hypnotic blend of Southern Gothic, supernatural horror, and cultural Read More
Obligatory Why We Left China Post
I know it has been a long, long time since I posted, but it has also been a really long three years. While most of the world moved into a state of “living with COVID” by 2021, China refused. It was as if we were stuck in the worst months of 2020 for three years. Read More
Empress in Danger: Empress in Disguise Book 3
She thought that fate was finished with her. But it was only beginning… After being banished to a remote abbey, Daiyu thinks the machinations of the inner court can no longer hurt her. But she is wrong. A ghost from the past emerges and threatens everything Daiyu has worked so hard to build for herself. Read More
Empress in Hiding: Empress in Disguise Book 2
She thought that the favor of the emperor would keep her safe. She was wrong. At the center of power and privilege, Daiyu is now in more danger than she ever imagined. No longer able to hide among the countless palace ladies, as empress, Daiyu cannot escape the jealousy and scheming of the other women Read More
Empress in Disguise: Empress in Disguise Book 1
To save her family, one girl will sacrifice her very identity. Living in poverty in the shadow of the Forbidden City, Daiyu never imagined that the life of the emperor would impact her own. But a chance meeting with a girl who looks exactly like her changes everything. Daiyu’s family is offered enough money to Read More