When Jin visited Taiwan in 2001, he let it be known that he was planning to shift his subject matter to American topics. At the time, he said: "I haven't been back in so long. China has changed.
2001 年哈金訪台時，便已宣告未來將會轉寫美國題材的小說，當時他是這麼說的：「那麼久沒回去了，天長日久的，中國變了，我也變了，我對中國已經逐漸陌生。」