The City, the People: Essays by Shanghai Writers

This is a collection of essays and vignettes about the city, slices of the lives of the people who were and are there, and written by them. There are stories of the grand and the mundane, the heroic and the heinous.

The courageous woman who, after being nearly incinerated in an industrial accident, determinedly lives to walk again, and the gambler who puts up his little sister to cover a bet are just a few of the characters you will be introduced to. The book is a celebration of the grandeur of the city’s new, world-class skyline and a lament for the lost architectural gems and the disappearance of the traditional homes, the neighborhoods and institutions. There are stories of survival of individuals and families through the nightmare of the “cultural revolution”—and their redemption. We meet a frisky and impetuous squirrel who, with his rival the bird, bring new meaning to the life of an elderly recluse. There is a poignant love story that transcends cultures and ages.

All these and others are presented with no order nor plan, happily haphazardly, because that is how life in Shanghai always was and always will be.

• Shanghai Writers Association, Editor