In Amy Tan's, "A Pair of Tickets", June May is the main character who struggles as she searches through her mother's past and tries to become more in touch with her Chinese roots. Throughout the short story, June's inner conflicts deal with feelings of resentment for her mother and her ethnic identity. At a young age, June May was in denial of her ethnic identity. "I was fifteen and had vigorously denied that I had any Chinese whatsoever below my skin. I was a sophomore at Galileo High in San Francisco, and all my Caucasian friends agreed: I was about as Chinese as they were. "At the age of 36, I've never really known what it means to be Chinese"(190). June has feelings of resentment for her mother because her mother never told her of her older half-sisters. She feels as if she never really knew her mother. June May takes a journey to China to fulfill her mother's wishes of finding her long lost abandoned twins and to identify with her Chinese culture.
             The setting of Guangzhou, China, helps June May realize the extreme changes of place and culture. Before arriving to China, June May had different perspectives of China. She thought of China as a dirty, poor, and slummy country. Arriving to Guangzhou China, she realized China was not what she had anticipated. The construction of downtown Guangzhou and the shoving and pushing of crowds made June May feel at home. "And then we are caught in a stream of people rushing, and shoving, pushing us along, until we find ourselves in one of a dozen lines waiting to go through customs. I feel as if I were getting on a number 30 Stockton bus in San Francisco" (197). Once June May and her father arrived at the Garden Hotel, June could not believe how nice the hotel was even though it was cheap to stay there. She thought that there was going to be a giant feast with Peking duck and the works, but her father decided to dine in the hotel roo...