Chinese Cinderella is set against the backdrop of seismic political shifts occurring in China. Over the course of the autobiography, Adeline witnesses various colonial powers vying for control over the country, as well as the resolution of the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949), which resulted in the communist takeover of China.

At the start of the 20th century, China was under imperial rule, as it had been since 221 BCE. The Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) was under extreme political strain after decades of conflict with foreign powers. In the mid-19th century, the First Opium War (1839-1842) with the British Empire ended in the defeat of China, forcing the Chinese imperial government to cede Hong Kong to the British and legalize the importation of British opium products into China. Opium’s rapid introduction to China proved socially and economically overwhelming and was followed by a series of internal rebellions. At the turn of the century, the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) further crippled the dynasty when a Japanese victory resulted in territory cessions and trade expansions with the West. A final internal rebellion, called the Wuchang Uprising, resulted in the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912.

The nationalist republican government, led by Sun Yat-Sen, quickly delaminated in the face of more internal conflict and mounting foreign pressure.