The author of Shanghai Po Po is Chan Hay Ching (陳曦靜). She immigrated to Hong Kong since her secondary education, and graduated with a major in Chinese from the Lingnan University. Chan uses different dialects in her writing deliberately. When interviewed by Ming Pao (明報), she commented that her writing is a mix of different dialects, making it hard to say what language she is writing in. So the outcome is neither fish nor fowl - making it difficult to recognise her identity. This kind of writing represents Chan as an immigrant to Hong Kong.