Shanghai

Shanghai is the main setting of the novel outside of the Green Dragon Village. As the novel is narrated from two different perspectives, half of the novel takes place in the city, and half takes place in the country. Shanghai is the city where Pearl grew up. She remembers it fondly, as a city full of life, art, and money. There are some remnants of life in Shanghai through the elderly women, like Yong and Auntie Hu, who have bound feet and manage to continue a life of luxurious dignity even during the communist era. Since the city has far more money than the country, the people in Shanghai aren't aware of the mass starvation and death occurring in the country. Those with money are free to throw banquets, attend government meetings, and generally live a higher quality of life than the peasants.

The Green Dragon Village