Definitely a must read.
Journey to the heartland follows a view of queerness that I have yet to encounter in other fiction. (Not to say it doesn't exist, because I'm sure this is not the only one, just that it's less popular in English language literature and as a result hasn't been something I've seen yet). Hanwei is just one generation older than I am, which is both not very far at all in how recognizable the various historical events portrayed feel, and very far in how different experiencing them is. I had just graduated high school when gay marriage was legalized throughout the United States while Hanwei was an adult in his thirties. I really enjoyed being able to see what other queer people were experiencing throughout these significant events in my life.
I also loved the way we follow Hanwei as a Chinese person. I have read many stories of queer people in China, mostly ancient China to be fair, but Hanwei's story feels unique compared to others I've read. Starting from a place where homosexual acts are illegal and punishable by law, living with a father who is clearly gay and also abusing Hanwei and his mother because of it, as well as letting other abuse him, it's typical to see these stories be about growing to accept queerness. But Hanwei's story is different. He logics his way through queerness not being inherently harmful pretty quickly and then meets others trying to convince him of it with that same logical reasoning. Even though some of the effects of abuse still linger, like how he seems to equate femininity and submission with emasculation due to his father's teachings, Hanwei finds himself content and accepting of not always happy with his queerness pretty early on, which isn't an angle seen often in these kinds of stories, particularly when reading about queer people of color.
This doesn't mean queerness isn't pivotal to the story though. We see tension in the story because of Hanwei's queerness between him and his mother (a character I will lament about soon), him and his various partners, as well as him and his countries. He is living a queer life as a queer person and his hard logic acceptance of queerness in humans doesn't stop these tensions and conflicts from happening.
I also really love Hanwei's relationship with his mother. The two of them have a sort of back and forth that I haven't seen presented often. Rulan watches her gay husband abuse her and her son before causing his own life to implode, growing up in a country that denied her education and kind of forced her into a motherhood role with few other options, and because of this she cannot immediately logic her way into accepting queerness the way Hanwei can, but unlock many mothers in stories similar to this, she isn't aggressive in her condemnation of it either. She doesn't view it as an inherent evil like most people like her would, but she meets it with a sort of casual lack of acceptance that mirrors Hanwei's casual acceptance. She worries about her child not having a happy life because he is gay and missing out on having a happy family and children to take care of him as he ages, but she doesn't fight him on it. She tells him about her worries and listens when he says he doesn't think he's going to be like his father. She comes to a gay pride parade in California and meets his gay friends despite still thinking it's the wrong path for him. She agrees to have dinner with his boyfriend who she doesn't even share a language with because she wants him to be on the right path even though she fears he isn't. And at the end she is at his wedding happy he has chosen to be who he is because she can see that he has chosen a good path while being gay. Rulan's homophobia and then later acceptance are causal in a way that doesn't get depicted often, and I'm glad to see it here.
Going from the 80's in China to 2022 in America was also very interesting. It's not a timeline is see much of, with malt books staying very modern or focussing in the past. This books was refreshing, it was well written, and I think it's a story that needs to be shared.