The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Li-yan makes sacrifices for what she hopes will be the greater good. For instance, she gives up her child and later leaves her first husband San-pa when she fears he may become violent. How do you navigate making difficult, potentially life-altering decisions? What pros and cons do you weigh when facing these choices, and how does this compare to Li-yan’s decision-making process?

2. What parts of Li-yan’s character and story were most relatable? Was another character more relatable to you than Li-yan? If so, why?

3. How do you feel about the ending of the novel? Do you find it realistic? Do you think you would be able to recognize a long-lost family member on sight?

4. Li-yan struggles with feeling she belongs in her home country. Haley struggles with feeling at home in her adopted country but feels more grounded when she returns to China. Which places feel most like home to you, and why?

5. The novel deals with the tension between tradition and modernization. What aspects of your cultural or family traditions do you try to keep alive? Why is it important to keep them going?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Li-yan is from a Chinese ethnic minority called the Akha. How does the novel comment on the pressure many indigenous peoples face to “modernize,” often while being dispossessed of their ancestral land and facing other forms of systemic inequality?

2. How does this novel portray the ethical conundrum of children being adopted and raised apart from their own cultures? Though Li-yan thought she was doing what was best, what repercussions did giving up her daughter have for Haley? What does Haley struggle with as someone in the diaspora, and how does this inform the novel’s larger themes? What do you take to be the novel’s overall stance on intercultural adoption?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does the rural setting of the Akha’s traditional hill village affect the novel? How would the novel differ if it began in a metropolitan area, like Shanghai?

2. How does Li-yan’s character evolve across the novel? What techniques does the author use to render her sympathetic even as she is forced into extreme acts of self-preservation, like leaving her child and San-pa?

3. How and why do you think the novel depicts morally ambiguous characters? For instance, San-pa emotionally abuses Li-yan to the point where she flees, fearing for her life, but he eventually sacrifices his own life to save her from a tiger. How does such characterization support the novel’s overall meaning?

4. Tea is an extremely malleable motif and symbol throughout the story. Its meaning morphs depending on which character, setting, or narrative element readers consider it alongside. What are some of the many meanings of tea in this novel?

5. What are the novel’s various mother-daughter relationships like? How do the characters’ relationships with their mothers change as they grow? How do they change depending on setting and cultural context?