The Chinese American author of this ruminative family saga is the granddaughter of the last KMT Vice President of China. The reminiscences of her life in New York and elsewhere include tales told by her father and grandmother, Nai-nai, whose recipes feature throughout. Accounts of visits to China after the Cultural Revolution and of Nai-nai's last 20 years spent in Guilin as an honored guest of the PRC government include interesting sidelights on the changes of recent years.