Although a reader might assume that Shanghai Girls is primarily concerned with events in 1937 Shanghai, the bulk of the narrative focuses on the lives of the central characters after they arrive as Chinese immigrants to America. A large part of Pearl Chin’s story revolves around her obsession with citizenship and the need to conceal her undocumented entry into the country for two decades.

The controversy surrounding Chinese immigration to the United States began as early as the 1850s. While a small number of Chinese nationals had established themselves in North America centuries earlier, the largest immigration wave was spurred by three events during the 1850s and 1860s. The California Gold Rush of 1849 prompted many Chinese men to seek their fortunes in the gold fields with the intention of returning home rich afterward. Around this same time, the construction of a transcontinental railroad to connect the east and west coasts of the United States began. Railroad companies routinely advertised for workers in China seeking cheap foreign labor starting in 1863. During this same period, the Taiping Revolution in China cost 20 million lives between 1850 and 1864. Many Chinese immigrants who weren’t seeking their fortune in America were eager to flee political unrest.