小說最後一章，生於上海的敘事者至香港探母，心中將東方之珠與十里洋場比較了一番。有段心裡話讓人想起「東施效顰」這句成語：It was as though I had come upon…a distant cousin of a woman I once loved; whose gestures, facial expressions, little shrugs nudge the memory, but who remains, overall, an awkward, even grotesque parody of a much-cherished image (351).