Her mother's tyranny informed Tan's fiction, in which her Chinese female characters are silhouetted through their mothers' remarks and thoughts. Yet it was also through her mother that Tan gained an understanding of a culture totally alien to most American people.

"My mother was a concubine at first, and it was a social kind of life," said Tan. "Understanding this aspect of her life helped me to see her in a different way." The popular author called this phenomenon of feeling bicultural emotions "spiritual biculturalism".

Like Tan, Ma had a similarly cross-cultural upbringing. Born to Chinese parents in Paris, Ma's awareness of cultural differences was awakened when the family moved from France to the United States. "That was a huge change because everything looks different," Ma recalled. "The sky looks different, the buildings are different." Ma also commented wryly that even the cheese is different.

His family encouraged him to study cello at the age of four. "To be a good musician, one must have an individual view," said Ma. However, this is contrary to the common idea that a musician should first be well disciplined. Ma relayed a joke which elaborated on the conflict: "A boy tells his father that he wants to be a musician when he grows up. The father replies 'you cannot have both!'"

Half jokingly and half seriously, Ma questioned the common prejudice, stating that he is a human being first, musician second and cellist third. He spoke of his appreciation of individualism and humanity, and said that his great love is people. "There is no contradiction between being a musician and loving people, because music is a great way to explore culture, wisdoms and voices," he said.

Despite being raised and educated in the West, Tan and Ma still carried the imprint of immigrants, visible in their physical difference. "We were all dislocated," said Tan."I was now in the same shoes only I loved it." According to Tan, she never had a date because she was the only Chinese girl in her school. Thinking she must be ugly, she asked her mother if she would be considered pretty in China. "You? No," her mother replied. "Maybe you would be average."

Tan commented that self-worth alone could conquer such an attitude. "When you travel to different places, you discover that beauty is not variable," she said. "But how you feel about yourself goes beyond simply beauty."

For Ma, being an immigrant meant being endowed with a sense of curiosity about everything new. "Whenever I go to a new place, I get really excited," he said. "I think hey, maybe I can live here."

"I feel I'm part of the human race. My goal is to feel comfortable, wherever I am in the world."

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin December 19, 2011)

妈妈的专制成为谭恩美小说灵感的来源。在她的小说中，那些中国女性角色通过她们母亲的言谈和思想被勾勒出来。同时，也正是通过她的母亲，谭恩美了解到了一种完全不为大部分美国人所熟知的文化。

“我妈妈起初是一个妾，那是在当时社会的一种生活，”谭恩美说道。“对她生活这一面的理解帮助我从一个不同的角度去审视她。”这个畅销书作家将这种双重文化情结称之为“精神上的双重文化主义”。

与谭恩美一样，马友友也是在跨文化的背景下成长起来的。出生于巴黎一个华裔家庭，马友友对文化差异的认知在举家迁离法国去往美国后被唤醒。“那是一个巨大的改变，因为每样东西都变得不一样了，”马友友回忆道，“天空看上去不一样了，建筑不一样了。”他揶揄道，甚至连奶酪也不一样了。

在家人的勉励下，马友友四岁开始学大提琴。“要成为一个好的音乐家，一个人首先要有自己的见解，”马友友说道。然而，这与普世的观点——音乐家首先要循规蹈矩相抵触。 马友友随即讲了个笑话，进一步解释了这一冲突。“一个小男孩跟他的父亲说他长大了要成为一名音乐家，他父亲回答道，‘你不可能同时成就两样’。”

马友友半开玩笑半认真地质疑起这个普世的偏见，并宣称，他首先是一个人，然后才是音乐家，最后才是大提琴手。他说，他赞赏个体价值与人性，既而说道，他的最爱便是人。“热爱大众与成为一个音乐家并不矛盾，因为音乐是一条探索文化，智慧与不同声音的伟大之路，”他说道。

虽然在西方接受了教育，长大成人，但是谭恩美和马友友依旧带有移民的痕迹，这从他们的外形便看得出来。“我们都曾经历过文化的错位，”谭恩美说道，“现在也是一样，只不过我开始喜欢上这种感觉。”谭恩美说，因为她是学校里唯一的华裔女孩， 所以没有任何一个男孩会约她出去。她认为自己一定长得很丑，并问母亲在中国的审美观里她算不算是漂亮的女孩。“你？不会。”她妈妈回答道，“你也就相貌平平吧。”

谭恩美随即评论，这样的态度是可以被自身的自我认可克服的。“游历过不同的地方后，你会发现世上的美并无多大差异，”她说道，“而你如何看待自己将远远超出单纯的美的范畴。”

对于马友友而言，移民者的背景赋予了他对新事物强烈的好奇心。“每当我去一个新的地方，我真的感到兴奋，”他说道。“我想，嘿，也许我可以在这里定居。”

“我觉得我是人类的一分子。我的目标是在这个世界的任何一个地方都感到舒适自在。”