Lin Haiyin

It is the late 1920s when six-year-old Yingzi and her family move to Beijing. As Yingzi explores the busy streets and alleys, she befriends a widow who, driven mad by grief, stands vigil at the entrance of her hutong, waiting for her missing daughter to return.

The film explores Lin Hai-yin’s unique perspective of having “two homelands,” narrated by her daughter Julie Chang. It highlights her life, work as an editor, and her role in overcoming censorship. Lin Hai-yin’s novels, known for their inclusiveness, remain a shared memory for cross-strait readers. She was a friend to writers and a courageous mother, nurturing Taiwanese literature post-war. As editor of the United Daily News, she supported writers like Lin Hwai-min and founded the Belles-Lettres Publishing House. Her living room was a literary hub, and she is fondly remembered as “Ms. Lin Hai-yin.” Her novel Memories of Peking: South Side Stories was published in 1960.