The Flower Drum Song

"Flower Drum Song" by C. Y. Lee (黎錦揚)was a great success.
It was criticized by Chinese critics as "chopsuey" of Chinese culture.
In retrospect, Lee managed to preserve the Chinese culture in his novel to a surprising extent. The novel by C. Y. Lee depicted the culcural clash between the older and younger generations of Chinese Americans.It depicted vividly the theme of 文化衝突與融合
In the Broadway version directed by Gene Kelly (金凱利), Japanese actresses such as Pat Suzuki and 梅木三吉 played Chinese. The reason is not just because there weren't enough Chinese American actors and actresses. Other unspoken reasons may also play a part.
The main character, her name is 李梅 Li Mei, or 美麗 Mei Li in English. She is a Hunan feisty girl 湖南大妞. She became a "mail order bride", and came to US through Hong Kong, Taiwan. When she and her father arrived at San Francisco, her neighbors asked her what she brought from China? She answered: "Flower Drum Songs!" (花鼓歌)。 She then sang some of the most memorable songs from Hammerstein. In 2001 (?) there was a remake by David Hwang (黃哲倫), but it was a flop.