Yellow Mountain is a deeply personal account of the realities of migration in the twentieth century, revelaing the cultural, financial and physchological factors behind every migrant story, one which May Lin hopes to share so that others may appreciate the sacrifices of past generations.

May Lin de Chezelles knew of her own grandfather's struggles as a Chinese Mandarin migrating to Malaya as it was then known, but it was only once he had passed away that she discovered the true extent of his family's efforts to flee in a bounty of revealing diaries kept by his daughter, May Lin's mother.

Leading Chinese economist delves into her remarkable family history in colonial Malaya to share a beguiling story of migration, survival and the enduring love between a father and his daughter.