Chinese given name
The novel's title derives from the name of the protagonist, a young gay man of mixed Chinese and Hispanic ancestry who goes by the name Rafael Zhang in non-Chinese contexts and Zhang Zhongshan in Chinese contexts. His Chinese given name, "Zhongshan", is written with the characters that have the primary meanings "center" and "mountain"; the Mandarin name for China also begins with the character meaning "center" or "middle". Thus, "China Mountain" is an alternate reading of his Chinese given name. As the novel explains, "Zhongshan" was one of the given names used by the Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, for whom the character is named.