Excerpt from preface to Gold Mountain Blues by Zhang Ling

Then in the fall of 2003 ... I was invited, together with a group of Chinese writers residing overseas, to tour one of the villages in Kaiping county, China, known for its unique residential dwellings called "Diao Lou", literally translated as "fortress homes". These houses were built, with the money the coolies sent home from overseas, to protect the women and children they left behind from harm of nature, as well as harm of men, as this area was susceptible to flooding and bandits in those days... Since the coolies were scattered all around the world... One could easily detect baroque, Roman and Victorian characteristics weirdly molded into southern Chinese architectural expression ...

On the third floor of the house, we found an old wooden closet. Little did we expect to see anything inside, as the house had been abandoned for decades. To my great surprise, I found a woman's dress in a vague resemblance of pink, embroidered with golden peonies half faded in color, full of moth holes. Taking out a sleeve tucked into the pocket, I uncovered yet another surprise - a pair of pantyhose was hidden in the sleeve. They looked thread thin from repeated washing, with a huge run spreading from the heel all the way up to where the legs part. While my fingers were tracing the run, I was struck with a sudden surge of energy, much like electrical current. I could hear my heart pumping in my chest, loud as thunder, as I stood there, quivering with awe.

What kind of woman was she who owned this pair of pantyhose almost a century ago? Had she been the mistress of the household? On what occasion would she wear this elaborate dress? Was she lonely, with her husband away toiling in the Gold Mountain trying to make enough money so that she could afford such expensive things? Once again I felt the urge to find out the answers to my questions.