Amy Tan, one of the most widely read Chinese authors in the West, says she feels frustrated at having to be a spokesperson for the Chinese.

The American-Chinese author was talking about her inspirations and aspirations last week, while at the Shanghai International Literary Festival.

"It's frustrating," Tan said on Friday. "Just because I write stories about Chinese people, doesn't mean I am a spokesperson for them. People keep telling me, 'You shouldn't write Chinese this way', or 'It's good that you write Chinese that way'. I say writers need to stay focused on the reasons for their writing."

The 55-year-old author has published five novels, four of which depict the emotional tangles between generations of women migrants from China to the United States. 

Tan's work has been translated into more than 20 languages, with all five of her books having been published in Chinese.

"My mother always said, 'You don't know anything about China', 'you don't speak Chinese'," Tan said.

She said she often felt embarrassed or inadequate for not being able to speak Chinese, but when she finished her first book, The Joy Luck Club, her mother was surprised to find Tan had discovered some hidden truths about her family.

"She thought her deceased mother, my grandma, had told them to me," Tan said.

The author said she learned how to tell a story from her mother, who used to tell about her past in China.

"She would tell it as if we were back in that time, and were there watching things happen," Tan said. "She taught me to use my imagination, pick details and make the story more colorful.

"I read a lot about China: the history, architecture, food and so on, to learn the details I need in my writing," she said. "But there is no authentic way to define Chinese people. I write about my experience, my family stories, it doesn't mean all American Chinese are like this."

Although the royalties she receives from her Chinese copyright are low no more than she gets from a small country like Iceland Tan said she doesn't mind. "I'm glad my family can read my books in Chinese, it means a lot to me."

Tan has relatives in Shanghai and says she has visited them about "a dozen times". She even considered moving to Beijing to live.

The San Francisco Opera House is currently working on a production of Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter, which is expected to premiere in September 2008. It is hoped the opera will tour China and other Asian cities in 2009.

(China Daily March 27, 2007)