June May is a 36-year-old Chinese American woman traveling through China with her father following her mother's death. She struggles with her multicultural identity, initially feeling disconnected from her heritage but slowly embracing it as she journeys closer to her extended family. Her Chinese name, Jing-mei, translates to "pure younger sister." She experiences complicated grief during the trip, carrying guilt over feeling she did not appreciate her mother enough in life.

Li Suyuan is June May's late mother, who recently died from a brain aneurysm. A survivor of the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, she was forced to abandon her infant twin daughters on the side of the road while fleeing Kweilin in 1944. She spent the rest of her life quietly searching for her lost children. Her name means "Long-Cherished Wish," reflecting her lifelong desire to find her daughters.

Canning is Suyuan's 72-year-old widower and June May's father. He travels with his daughter to China to reunite with his aunt and to introduce June May to her half sisters. Empathetic and grieving, he helps June May understand her mother's history by recounting the painful story of the twins' abandonment. He once teased his wife over the dual meanings of her name, and he now mourns the fact that he never fully comprehended her deepest sorrow.

Chwun Yu (Spring Rain) and Chwun Hwa (Spring Flower) are Suyuan's long-lost twin daughters from her first marriage. Left on the side of the road with valuables and a written plea for care in 1944, they were raised in a cave by a Muslim peasant couple. Their names reflect their birth order and the seasons. They wait in Shanghai to finally reunite with their mother's American family.

Auntie Lindo is a close friend of the Woo family and Suyuan's former mahjong partner. She writes a letter to the twins in China pretending to be Suyuan, a well-intentioned lie that makes June May uncomfortable. June May implores her to write a second letter explaining the truth about their mother's passing.

Aiyi is Canning Woo's aunt and June May's great-aunt. Enthusiastic and welcoming, she surprises Canning by gathering her extended family to meet them immediately at the Guangzhou train station rather than waiting for a phone call at the hotel. She later suggests they order room-service burgers and apple pie, to June May's disappointment.

Wang Fuchi is Suyuan's first husband and a military officer stationed in Chungking during the Second Sino-Japanese War. His information regarding the advancing Japanese forces prompts Suyuan's desperate flight from Kweilin with their twin daughters.

Mei Ching is a Muslim peasant woman who finds the abandoned twin babies on the road. Unable to read the note Suyuan left on the back of family photographs, she and her husband raise the girls as their own in a cave for many years before finding someone who can read the message.

Mei Han is Mei Ching's husband. Together with his wife, he lives in a cave and helps raise the abandoned twin babies they found on the road during the war.

Lili is the young daughter of Aiyi's grandson. She is part of the large family gathering that excitedly greets Canning and June May when they arrive at the train station in Guangzhou.