Chunhua

**Chunhua** is a secondary character in the fifth season of Within the Wires. She was a member of Gorgeous Watkins and Indra's ex-girlfriend.

## Biography

Chunhua and Indra dated when Indra was 22. At some point in their relationship, they travelled together to the Catskills and saw Kaaterskill Falls. Although it was a popular tourist spot, Indra felt as if they were exploring a forgotten world, and Chunhua later wrote the poem "Rainbow Dust" from the memory of the waterfall. Indra later believed it described their relationship with its intangible, superficial beauty, and that Chunhua felt she couldn't connect to her on a deeper level. They used to joke about becoming the kind of old couple who went on bus tours like, but ultimately didn't stay together - this seems to be chiefly because Indra broke things off to pursue Nan instead.

In 1997, while in the early stages of dating Nan, Indra described her former relationship with Chunhua as nothing more than a fling. This was prompted by an incident in which Indra brought Nan out to regular pub, The Goat's Knackers, and ran into Chunhua, who proceeded to "interrogate" Nan. This led to an argument and a suade jacket of Nan's being ruined, somehow involving some dirt. Indra could not understand why it got so nasty, as Chunhua had also dated other people since they broke up (they were never even exclusive in the first place). The relationship continued to cause tension in the group, with Sophie mentioning to Indra that they (Gorgeous Watkins) did not like Nan or the fact that Indra was dating her. Indra suspected this was because it had hurt Chunhua's feelings.

In 1997, Chunhua was cast in a production directed by Indra. By October, Indra regretted the casting, as it had become an issue. During one rehearsal, Chunhua stormed out, and Indra had to call her and leave a voicemail to try and get her to come back. At the same time this was going on, Chunhua was in a relationship with someone called Alice, who Indra suspected was not entirely happy about their open relationship. When Indra and Nan moved in together in 1999, Indra did not invite Chunhua to their housewarming party out of fears that Nan was jealous, and this caused an argument, because Indra did not tell Chunhua about the party until after it happened. In July, Chunhua's birthday celebration consisted of the entire cast and crew of the latest Gorgeous Watkins production going out for drinks together. At some point prior to the party, Chunhua and Alice had broken up, apparently with Chunhua doing the breaking.

In September 2001, Indra went to Glasgow with Chunhua, Liv, and Sophie to go to a salon Liv was doing. In January 2002, Indra called Chunhua from Bath to tell her about a cafe with "Chunhua energy" but abruptly hung up when she started to reminisce about the old days and once again begin to imagine a future with Chunhua, despite still being with Nan. At some point, Chunhua lived with someone called Beverly for a few months.

After Gorgeous Watkins disbanded, Chunhua went to work for a newspaper selling advertisements. She also got engaged to her girlfriend, Tina. By 2003, Indra had lost touch with Chunhua entirely and didn't know how to get a hold of her.

## Additional info

* The name "Chunhua" means "spring flower" in Chinese with the characters 春 (spring) and 花 (flower).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Season 5, Episode #3: March 2002
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Season 5, Episode #4: January 2002
3. ↑ Season 5, Episode #9: May 1997
4. ↑ Season 5, Episode #8: July 1997
5. ↑ Season 5, Episode #7: October 1997
6. ↑ Season 5, Episode #6: July 1999
7. ↑ Season 5, Episode #5: September 2001
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Season 5, Episode #2: September 2003