The Mandarin way cover

The Mandarin way

by Cecilia Chiang

Cecilia Chiang is the presiding genius of one of the great Chinese restaurants of the world, The Mandarin, in Ghirardelli square in San Francisco. A native of China, one of thirteen children in a familyof great wealth, she was brought up in an ancient palace in Peking, in sheltered, luxurious, and as it must seem to American readers, invincibly exotic circumstances. Now, in collaboration with Allan Carr, she has recalled the Mandarin way as she knew it in a memoir that eludes conventional classification - at once a fascinating account of growing up in Old China, a re-creation of its festivals and customs, and a little treasury of recipes from the classic Chinese cuisine. -- from dust cover.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?