Chapter 10 Summary: April 1993 — Key Events and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

In April 1993, Howard Wang returns to Shanghai for the first time in roughly four decades. Landing at Hongqiao Airport—a site he remembers only as a military base—he is struck by the unfamiliar smell of the air and the jarring modernity of the terminal. At customs, he feels a sudden urge to repudiate his new American passport, and he responds to the officer's stamp with his clearest Shanghainese, hoping to prove he belongs.

The taxi ride to his hotel in the former French Concession disorients him: widened roads, new highways, neon lights, and modern vehicles have replaced the city he carried in memory. Walking through the streets, he finds that Dama Lu has been renamed Nanjing East Road, and although the Wing On and Sincere department stores still stand, their goods belong to a different era. From the Bund, he watches Pudong's garish skyscrapers rise where a fishing village once lay.

In his hotel room, Howard inventories the gifts he has brought: chocolate, shampoo, flour, rice, two Rolexes, silk scarves, a Game Boy, pearl earrings, a white-gold ring, coffee, cashmere, a singing stuffed dog, children's books, and a photo album. He had wanted to bring television sets for his siblings but worried about the luggage.

The narrative then flashes back to Howard's long search for his family. In 1982, he began writing letters to Shanghai, first addressing them vaguely to neighbors, then enclosing the gold ring his mother had given him as proof of identity. When those letters went unanswered, he grew bolder and sent letters directly to the old address, eventually reaching out to friends of friends. In 1983, a phone call came in the middle of the night: his sister Junjun, now in Beijing, had learned of his search by chance. She told him their father had died during the Cultural Revolution and their mother had died ten months earlier from stomach cancer—mere months before his letter reached Junjun. Weeks later, his brother Haiming called and revealed that their mother had been calling for Howard on her deathbed.

Howard waited another ten years—for his green card, then citizenship—before he could book his flight. In the meantime, his calls with his siblings remained distant and guarded.

The next morning, Junjun arrives with her daughter Xuenong, who looks so much like Howard's mother that he briefly mistakes her for her. They drive to the old shikumen, where Junjun reveals she is the landlord, having acquired rights to the property to keep a home waiting for Howard's return. Inside, the rooms have been transformed into cramped rental quarters. As they leave, a tenant confesses that letters with foreign stamps—Howard's letters—were turned in and reported years ago. Howard asks about the gold ring, but Junjun says any valuables were sold off long ago.

Over lunch, Junjun and her husband enthusiastically describe Shanghai's economic reforms. When Howard questions how this aligns with Communism, Junjun's tone turns haughty, and the brief intimacy between them evaporates.

That evening, Haiming arrives with his wife Chun'er, son Jiwen, and daughter-in-law Hong. At an elaborate dinner, Haiming is sullen and bitter, muttering resentments under his breath. Afterward, he tells Howard the truth: Junjun denounced their father to the Red Guards, signing a written accusation that labeled him a bourgeois, capitalist, foreign-loving dog. She also denounced Howard as her traitorous Nationalist brother. Their father was beaten to death. Haiming was stripped of everything and sent to the farms for reeducation; his son Jiwen was sent to the countryside as a sent-down kid; and Haiming's wife Ellen did not survive the worry. Haiming declares he will never forgive Junjun.

The next day, the family visits their mother's grave. Howard kneels, lights joss sticks, and weeps, overwhelmed by his failure as a filial son. Junjun then takes him on a tour of renamed landmarks: Fourth Road is now Fuzhou Road, French Park is Fuxing Park, Jing'an Temple Road is Nanjing West Road.

On his last morning, Howard confronts Junjun on the Bund. She defends herself, describing the impossible purity tests of the Cultural Revolution and the constant surveillance. She insists he cannot understand what it was like.

That evening, at the music conservatory, Junjun mentions that Suchi's mother, Tsan ayi, had been in contact with their mother in her final days and had called Haiming when Ma got sick. Howard asks for Tsan ayi's whereabouts, but Junjun admits she forgot to help track down her daughters. She promises to search for the number but never finds it.

Howard departs, watching Shanghai fade into white clouds, uncertain whether he will ever return.

Key Events

Howard arrives in Shanghai and experiences profound disorientation at the city's transformation.
Flashback reveals his 1982 letters, the gold ring, and the 1983 phone call from Junjun announcing their parents' deaths.
Haiming reveals their mother called for Howard on her deathbed.
Reunion with Junjun and Xuenong; Xuenong's resemblance to Howard's mother.
Visit to the shikumen; the tenant confesses Howard's letters were reported and turned in.
Haiming reveals Junjun denounced their father to the Red Guards, leading to his death.
Cemetery visit and Howard's anguished attempt to honor his mother.
Final confrontation with Junjun on the Bund.
Discovery that Tsan ayi had contact with their mother but is now unreachable.
Howard's departure, uncertain if he will return.

Character Development

Howard is caught between identities: American citizen, Shanghainese native, Nationalist soldier, absent son. His guilt deepens as he learns his letters never reached his mother and that she died calling for him. His attempt to compensate with gifts reveals his helplessness—material objects cannot bridge decades of loss.

Junjun emerges as a complex figure: the loyal daughter who kept the shikumen, the Party official who touted reform, and the woman who denounced her own father. Her defense—that survival required impossible choices—complicates any easy judgment.

Haiming carries an unhealed wound. His bitterness toward Junjun and his refusal to accept Howard's sympathy show a man who has defined himself by his integrity and his suffering.

Xuenong serves as a living echo of Howard's mother, offering him a glimpse of the face he feared he had forgotten.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Return to homeland and disorientation: Howard's Shanghai is both familiar and alien; the renamed streets symbolize the erasure of his past.
Memory vs. reality: The shikumen, the department stores, and the Bund all contradict Howard's internal map of the city.
Gifts as compensation: The suitcase full of goods underscores the impossibility of repaying his family's suffering with objects.
Lost letters and missed death: The intercepted letters and the gold ring represent the failed connection between Howard and his mother.
Cultural Revolution betrayal: Junjun's denouncement fractures the family irreparably, and Haiming's account reframes the reunion's joy.
Filial piety and guilt: Howard's grief at the grave is rooted in his failure to fulfill his duties as a son.
The passport as identity symbol: Howard's urge to repudiate his American passport reveals his conflicted sense of belonging.
Music as emotional connection: The Mozart concerto and Beethoven's swell link Howard's past and present, his love for Suchi, and his loss.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is the emotional and narrative core of the novel's present-day timeline. It brings Howard face-to-face with the consequences of his decades-long absence: his mother's death, his father's murder, his siblings' irreparable rift, and the erasure of the city he once knew. The revelation of Junjun's denouncement reframes the family's history and forces Howard—and the reader—to grapple with questions of survival, loyalty, and forgiveness. The chapter also plants the crucial thread of Tsan ayi and Suchi, setting up the possibility of reconnection that will drive the story forward.

Study Questions and Answers

**1. Why does Howard feel compelled to say