Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen

I think my book group chose this book of short stories to gain some insight into contemporary China.  Well, I'm not sure what I am taking away from these 10 stories.  They certainly don't play to stereotype.  Most don't even really end.  Some hint at magical realism and some just left me with a dissatisfied sense of understanding.  Chen is a journalist and it does seem like she went looking for a story, reported what she saw and then just decided, "there. done."  I guess maybe she is saying, "We are a large, diverse country and not what the west expects."  If pulling back the curtain was her intent, I am still not sure what it is I am meant to see. 

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

As a young girl, Li-Yan gathered tea with her family in the hill country of China just north of what was then Burma.  As members of the Akha minority, they were both isolated from and victims of the changes in 20th century China.  The Akha people are ruled by the stern hand of tradition - traditions that force Ahka out of her village and on a long journey to the cities of China and eventually to the United States in search of a daughter she thought might have been lost forever.  As much as this is Li-Yan's story it is also about the tea - ancient tea cakes that carry the history of the owner as well as the finest flavor in the leaves.  There may be a few too many coincidences to make this completely believable but it reads like a fascinating multi-layered family history of a part of China we rarely hear about.