Snow’s Grandmother

Beijing Diary Podcast

Several weeks ago, I had a most interesting conversation with Snow's grandmother. The logistics of the thing were a little tricky, because the kind lady did not really speak Mandarin, and certainly not English. But Snow speaks Mandarin, English, her native dialect, Baihua (Beihai area dialect) as well as Cantonese, so she was well able to interpret for me. As the story develops, and we hear about how Snow was adopted, the role of mother and grandmother tend to merge. Snow refers to her as her grandmother, but although Snow was adopted and became part of a peasant family, it was this lady herself who nurtured Snow as an infant.

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