Madame Hoo is 28 years old. She was born in China and she immigrated from Hong Kong. She is married to James Hoo. James married her for her 100 year old sauce. She tends to steal a lot. Doug, her son, is teaching her English. Her full name is Sun Lin Hoo.

Women in China were traditionally thought of as inferior to men. Some Chinese proverbs substantiate this viewpoint further:

"A woman without talent is a woman of virtue." AND "It is more profitable to raise geese than daughters." (http://chineseculture.about.com)

Women were once expected to follow a certain code which required them to behave in a certain, acceptable way. The obediences she was demanded to follow were to "obey her father before marriage, her husband after marriage, and her son after her husband's death." (http://chineseculture.about.com)

Though this type of treatment is difficult to change or overcome, it is believed that through more contact with the western world women enjoy more rights than ever before. Today women may obtain jobs and education. They have equal rights with men, and earn within 80% of men's salaries. Women also enjoy the choice of whether to stay home or join the workforce after beginning a family, a choice that they did not have too long ago.

This improved treatment of Chinese women comes with an improved life expectancy. "The average life expectancy of Chinese women rose from 36 years in 1949 to 73.2 years in 1997." (http://chineseculture.about.com)