She seems to know a lot about things of foreign, but she forgets her own origin and knows very little about the history of her own country.

Although such a query may seem fringe in the U.S., it's not out of the ordinary in China to equate race with loyalty. As one popular saying goes, "You can't betray your ancestors."

All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues.