The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Hua, Vanessa. Forbidden City. Ballantine Books, 2022. First Edition. Hardcover.

The 30-chapter novel begins with a prologue set in San Francisco on 9/9/1976: the day of Chairman Mao’s death. The first-person narrator speaks in the present tense to an unspecified “you,” reflecting on the past decade of trying to forget “you.” Chapter 1 is set in 1965 and narrated in the first person, past tense by the protagonist, Mei Xiang. Mei was a teenage girl, living in a Chinese village; she and other girls were inspected by Secretary Sun for unknown purposes. Mei’s thoughts revealed she was bitter about living impoverished and she yearned to leave the village for an idealized greater purpose to serve the People’s Republic. She was selected to leave the village.

Chapter 2 begins as Mei was driven away from the village towards the Forbidden City, where the Chairman lived (N.B. Chairman Mao is only ever referred to as “the Chairman”). She met Teacher Fan, who was the instructor of a group of other girls around Mei’s age who formed a dancing troupe. Later that first night, the troupe danced with the Chairman and other members of his cadre; the Chairman took Mei back to his bedroom and they had sex. Chapter 3 resumes immediately after Mei had sex with the Chairman; the rest of the chapter depicts Mei as she settled in with the troupe who lived in the lake palaces of the Forbidden City. She learned Midnight Chang was the cruelest, prettiest girl in the troupe, and formed a friendship with a girl named Busy Shan. Chapters 4 through 6 depict average days in the life of the troupe as they were each tasked with writing a play to perform for the Cadre. Teacher Fan began to treat Mei better than other girls in the cadre. Chapter 6 ends with the troupe performing the play; Mei’s performance stood out.

Chapter 7 begins with Secretary Sun, as he escorted Mei to meet with the Chairman. Pleased with Mei’s ability to perform, the Chairman assigned her a mission: he wanted Mei to pretend to be a student and trick the president, whom he believed was planning to usurp him, into falling from grace in the eyes of the Republic. Chapter 8 depicts Mei when she began to live with the Chairman, rather than the troupe. Chapters 9 through 13 depict Mei as she lived with the Chairman and the sexual relationship that formed between them as she took lessons from him, Teacher Fan, and Secretary Sun to prepare for her role in deception. Chapter 14 follows Mei and Secretary Sun as he drove her through Beijing to see the city outside of the Forbidden City; this chapter depicts tension that grew between Mei and the Chairman, and the beginnings of feelings that developed between Mei and Sun. Chapter 15 depicts Mei as she was examined by Dr. Li amid concerns she might have become pregnant; Li voiced his concern over the Chairman’s health after Mei told him he was not sleeping well. Chapter 16 depicts Mei as she eavesdropped on a conversation between Teacher Fan and the Chairman’s wife, the Madame. Sun also told Mei one of her sisters had died and that her mother had a fever. Chapters 17 and 18 depict the Chairman as he began to recuperate in advance of National Day. These chapters also feature the tension between Mei and her once-friend, Busy Shan. Mei helped Busy Shan sneak out of the Forbidden City to visit her injured mother. Shan was exiled from the Forbidden City after this. Mei is introduced to the president in Chapter 19; she was introduced as Dong Feng, rather than by her real name. She performed well, convincing the president he should focus his efforts on the student population, although secretly Mei and the Chairman intended for these efforts to backfire upon the president.

Chapter 20 begins in 1966. Mei traveled across the countryside with the Chairman; he was concerned that capitalism might be spreading through the villages. In Chapter 21, the Chairman told Mei an anecdote about him swimming the Yangtze River to prove a point to his followers. One night, the Chairman awoke in paranoia, afraid someone was there to kill him. In Chapter 22, the Chairman and Mei went to his birthplace, Shaoshan; Mei saw the Cultural Revolution was underway and she was jealous not to take an active part in it. Chapters 23 and 24 follow Mei with Secretary Sun. They drove through Beijing, where there was chaos and violence; Sun and Mei returned to the Chairman, where he was playing mahjong with Midnight Chang. Mei was jealous. Chapter 25 depicts the day commemorating the Chairman’s swim in the Yangtze. Mei and Sun secretly had sex in a car, and afterwards Mei joined many others in swimming through the Yangtze after the Chairman went in.

Chapter 26 begins a couple months later as Mei watched the president give a speech to a large crowd at Tiananmen Square; he was booed. Mei was concerned because she had missed her period; she was also ambivalent about her mission to oust the president via deception. Mei was called upon as Dong Feng to give a speech. She began to speak, but soon started to descry the Chairman; she was immediately interrupted as the Premier cued the crowd to start cheering. Mei fled into the crowd and as she began to address “you,” it was apparent that she was speaking to her fetus, begot by Sun. Chapter 27 begins with Mei as she lived as a vagrant, passing from village to village to avoid capture; she was three months pregnant. Chapter 28 depicts Mei briefly living with a young girl named Little Bao and her grandmother. Mei gave birth prematurely, and the baby immediately died. Chapter 29 begins with Mei still living a vagrant lifestyle on the run; she resolved to swim across the bay to Hong Kong. Chapter 30 begins with Mei as she swam to the shore. She lived with a church where she recuperated and learned enough English to be sent as a missionary to America. The narration switches to the present tense as a coda to the prologue. Mei narrates to her deceased child that she lives a solitary life in San Francisco.