'Forest covered the surrounding areas for as far as the eye could see. The British officials in neighbouring Burma often sent their people over to survey the land and build roads and bridges. Thus Britons, Burmese and Indians appeared in Banana Vale with their frequent taxes and fees which the widowed inn-keeper had to pay. To her annoyance, unlike the Han merchants and grooms, these tax collectors not only flirted but pinched, and this agitated and angered her more than anything. Then, an opium trader on the border who had often put up at her inn and who'd had an eye on the well-to-do widow for a long time found an opportunity to help her out on a few occasions...' Ai Wu, Banana Vale, Panda Books, 1993