Shi Cheng ― Short Stories from Urban China

To the West, China may appear an unstoppable economic unity, a single high-performing whole, but for the inhabitants of this vast, complex, and contradictory nation, it is the cities that hold the secret to such economic success. From the affluent, Westernized Hong Kong to the ice-cold Harbin in the north, from the Islamic quarters of Xi’an to the manufacturing powerhouse of Guangzhou—China’s cities thrum with promise and aspiration, playing host to the myriad hopes, frustrations, and tensions that define China today. The stories in this anthology offer snapshots of 10 such cities, taking in as many different types of inhabitant. Here we meet the lowly Beijing mechanic lovingly piecing together his first car from scrap metal, somnambulant commuters at a Nanjing bus stop refusing to acknowledge the presence of a dead body just feet away, or Shenyang intellectuals conducting a letter-writing campaign on the moral welfare of their city. The challenges depicted in these stories are uniquely Chinese, but the energy and ingenuity with which their authors approach them is something readers everywhere can marvel at. Featuring stories from locations including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Harbin, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuhan, and Xi’an, the collection contains work from authors Jie Chen, Han Dong, Diao Dou, Cau Kou, Ding Liying, Ho Sin Tung, Yi Sha, Zhu Wen, Xu Zechen, and Zhang Zhihao.