Sci-fi book, future, where people speak some words in Chinese

I recall reading a Sci-fi book in 1997 set in the not-to-distant future. Can’t recall a lot of plot details other than people speaking some Chinese because China had influenced the world to a great degree by that point. People would also “plug in” to some internet-type thing for entertainment. Must have been written close to 1997 — early to mid-90s. Late 80s at the very earliest. Lead charter was a woman or it was written by a woman, or both. Perhaps a reddish cover.