{"product_id":"strange-beasts-of-china-isbn-9781612199092","title":"Strange Beasts of China","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice and Notable Book of 2021\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eBest Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror of 2021\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Chinese literature, an uncanny and playful novel that blurs the line between human and beast…\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness—save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes, and strange birthmarks. \u003cbr\u003e Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast, and is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003ePart detective story, part metaphysical enquiry, \u003ci\u003eStrange Beasts of China\u003c\/i\u003e engages existential questions of identity, humanity, love and morality with whimsy and stylistic verve.One of \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \"100 Notable Books of 2021,\" which is selected by the editors of \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eBest Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror of 2021\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \"By far my favorite fantasy book of the year is 'S\u003ci\u003etrange Beasts of China'\u003c\/i\u003e by Yan Ge, translated by Jeremy Tiang. It’s a beautiful mosaic novel, composed of different entries in a quasi-bestiary.\" \u003cb\u003e- Silvia Moreno-Garcia, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eMexican Gothic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Delightful. Through the narrator’s futile quest to catalog beasts, Yan captures the fluidness of city life, the way urban space defies definition even for people hellbent on making sense of it.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Magical realism of the best kind, where the spectacular is paired with  just enough irony and daffy humor to keep it grounded on earth—or  whichever world this fun and beguiling book takes place.\" — \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Wall St. Journal \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \"A page-turner whose dense, fantastical atmosphere lingers long after the read.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eVulture\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange Beasts of China\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e feels like a riddle and a parable and a dream, the kind of book you want to get lost in.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Mixes a sort of Borgesian bestiary of mysterious creatures with a deep sense of urban andsocial alienation to produce an enthralling and fascinating narrative. A breath of fresh air in theoften hard-sf dominated field of recently translated Chinese science fiction, this novel is a must-read for fans of Vandermeer, Borges, or fantasy fiction that blurs the line between genre and literary fiction.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The overall effect of Yan’s storytelling is dreamy and hypnotic, sometimes opaque but always captivating. These cryptic but well-told tales offer much to chew on.\" \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublisher's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \"Moving and magical, \u003ci\u003eStrange Beasts of China\u003c\/i\u003e is stunningly alive and  unsettling in all the best ways. I am in awe of its bold imagination, endless depth, and  philosophical weight. Every page of this book is magnetic.\"                   \u003cb\u003e—K-Ming Chang, author of \u003ci\u003eBestiary\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"The  delights of \u003ci\u003eStrange Beasts of China\u003c\/i\u003e, an inspired bestiary as  investigative novel, are the authentic human emotions evoked. Fear,  loneliness, melancholy, and hope fill every page. I can't wait to read  Yan Ge's wonderful novel again.\"                   \u003cb\u003e—Paul Tremblay, author of \u003ci\u003eA Head Full  of Ghosts\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003ci\u003eStrange Beasts of China\u003c\/i\u003e is visceral and strange, its hypnotic  storytelling punctuated by twists that feel like knifejabs: sudden,  tearing, alive. Yan Ge has created  haunting beasts that move through a warped yet familiar world, and  Jeremy Tiang's translation is wonderful. I felt this one in my bones.\" \u003cb\u003e—Isabel Yap, author of \u003ci\u003eNever Have I Ever\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e “I loved the novel\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003echarged with melancholy surrealism, its  preoccupations with being and loneliness are both timeless and all too  timely. The translation by Jeremy Tiang is especially brilliant and  engaging.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eSharlene Teo, author of \u003ci\u003ePonti\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e “I don’t know if it was the unexpected twists and turns in the   protagonist’s storyline, or Tiang’s playful-yet-searing English, or the   mirror this book holds up to our willingness to be divided and   conquered, but I simply could not put this one down.” \u003cb\u003e—Heather Cleary, translator of \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eAmerican Delirium\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e “A thought-provoking read on its own merit, the book takes on added  significance given that it is an early work by Yan, whose talent is  clear, raw and electrifying.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePost Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Playful and darkly subtle . . . The world shown here is full of chaos and vulnerability . . . You could choose to despair at this, or take hope that Yan Ge cares enough to write tenderly about it.\"\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If Yan’s book was simply a selection of surreal vignettes centered  around the beasts, a la Jorge Luis Borges or Italo Calvino, it would  likely be compelling enough . . . The  novel as a whole abounds with moments where vivid imagery coincides with  an ever-present sense of danger.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—tor.com\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Strange Beasts of China \u003c\/i\u003eis  a fun, sometimes bleak, endlessly fascinating work of fiction, and one  of the best Chinese novels in translation that you can pick up and read  right now.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooks and Bao\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e “More than the beasts and their mysteries, \u003ci\u003eStrange Beasts of China\u003c\/i\u003e stretches  out the tender links between parent and child, lovers and friends, who  cannot always remain. It expresses the joys and sorrows of being by  yourself in a maddening metropolis, and of feeling estranged yet  connected to your origins in previously unthinkable ways.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eCha \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “What appears to be a postmodern series of fantastic fables morphs into  something more unexpected, expertly crafted by Yan Ge: an obscure  mediation on the wildness of everyday existence, an evocative, bizarre  consideration of the fragile boundaries between the self and the world  beyond.”\u003cb\u003e \u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Skinny\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eYan Ge\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Sichuan, China in 1984. She is a fiction writer in both Chinese and English. She is the author of thirteen books, including six novels. She has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Maodun Literature Prize (Best Young Writer), and was named by People's Literature magazine as one of twenty future literature masters in China. Her work has been translated into English, French and German, among other languages.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJeremy Tiang\u003c\/b\u003e is a Singaporean writer, translator, and playwright, based in New York City. He has translated more than ten books from Chinese and was recently honoured as the London Book Fair's inaugural Translator in Residence.As the Splendid River flows through Yong’an City’s centre and heads east, it separates into the Lotus and Peacock Rivers in Luoding District. The sorrowful beasts live in a housing development on the Peacock’s southern bank, in the north-eastern quarter of the city. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese old buildings, their walls thick with ivy, are known as the Leye Estate. They were originally built as dormitories for the Ping Le Cotton Mill, where many of the sorrowful beasts have worked for years, ever since they first came to Yong’an City from the south and settled here. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSorrowful beasts are gentle by nature, and prefer the cold and dark. They love cauliflower and mung beans, vanilla ice cream and tangerine pudding. They fear trains, bitter gourd and satellite TV. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe males of the species are tall, with large mouths and small hands, scales on the insides of their left calves and fins attached to their right ears. The skin around their belly buttons is dark green. Other than that, they’re just like regular people. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe females are beautiful – slender figures with reddish skin, long, narrow eyes, ears a little larger than normal. For three days at the full moon, they lose the ability of human speech and squawk like birds instead. Otherwise, they’re just like regular people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSorrowful beasts never smile. If they do, they can’t stop – not until they die. Hence their name. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you look back far enough, you might trace their forebears to a poet from ancient times, too far back for there to be any evidence. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMale sorrowful beasts are skilled with their hands, which is how they ended up weaving textiles. The females, being good-looking, often work as salesgirls in the fabric stores. The people of Yong’an City come shopping for textiles to this dilapidated little district all the way across town, just so they can catch a glimpse of these attractive beasts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLegend has it that a sorrowful beast’s smile is so beautiful, no one who sees it could ever forget it. But no matter how many jokes you tell them, they never laugh, let alone smile. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis makes the loveliness of the female beasts all the more to be prized and pitied, and the tycoons of Yong’an City take pride in marrying them – the females can mate with people and produce human offspring. The males can’t do this, and so Leye Estate is filled with desolate bachelors, while the ladies end up in the wealthy district to the south, having fled so fast their feet barely touched the ground, their faces like ice. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At one point, the city’s zoologists raised an outcry in the newspapers: if things went on like this, these rare creatures would surely go extinct. And so the government passed a law: sorrowful beasts could only marry their own kind. If they wished to couple with a human, special permission would be required, and could only be balloted for once every five years. As a result, having a beast-wife became an even greater status symbol, and the extra demand from the elite greatly increased the government’s revenue. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · · \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Lefty, an artist, was the friend of a friend. The sto­ries about her and the sorrowful beast had spread far and wide among our circle, but few people knew the truth of the matter. One day, she came up to me at a party and said, ‘I know you specialise in beastly tales. I want to tell you a sorrowful beast’s story. Are you interested?’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Yes,’ I said, ‘but I have to pay you something.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘I don’t want anything.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘That’s the rule,’ I said, ‘I have to give you something.’ I smiled, but her face remained blank. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe said, ‘I’d love a vanilla ice cream.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI bought her one, and she devoured it with gusto. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’d smoked two cigarettes before she finally spoke. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe said, ‘My sorrowful beast died last week.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · · \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLefty met the male beast at a time when the Ping Le Mill was doing badly – all the salesgirls had run off to marry tycoons, leaving no one to sell the goods. Many mill workers had been laid off. She first encountered him at the Dolphin Bar – he’d walked over and said to her, ‘I’ve just lost my job, could you buy me a drink?’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe looked up at him. He was very tall, with a serious expres­sion, the skin of his face shiny and unwrinkled. ‘All right,’ she said. As they drank, Lefty noticed an exquisite fin behind his ear. She said, ‘You’re a beast.’ He answered, ‘Yes, and I’m out of work.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat night, he followed her home, and she tamed him. His name was Cloud. He slept quietly at night, didn’t talk much, loved baths, and ate nothing but three vanilla ice creams a day. If anyone turned on the TV, he’d let out a shattering howl and his eyes would flash red – his beastly nature revealing itself. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLefty stopped watching television. When she got home, they’d sit at either end of the sofa, each reading a book. When he was happy, he’d let out a long cat-like rumble, but he never smiled. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt night they slept together, Cloud in the nude. His phy­sique was just like a human male’s. The skin around his belly button was green as the sea, even a little translucent. Lefty often found herself mesmerised by that patch of skin. ‘It’s so beautiful,’ she’d say.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe stroked him, and he purred like a contented cat, but they couldn’t make love. ‘It’s because you’re human,’ he explained. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey slept in each other’s arms, like a couple of beasts. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a lovely time. The male beast was even more nurtur­ing and resourceful than a human girl – he cooked for Lefty and washed her clothes. The food was mostly vegetarian, and the laundry had a strange fragrance. As Lefty ate, he’d watch from across the table, his expression tender. She thought of him almost as her husband. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis all happened last May. Lefty painted quite a few por­traits of Cloud, and held a very successful exhibition at Ever­green Gallery. Everyone knew she had a sorrowful beast as her model, with long, sturdy legs, a flat, greenish stomach, and bright, empty eyes. Standing or sitting, he became an object of affection for all the young women in the city. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · · \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI saw that exhibition. The first rumours I heard about Lefty and the sorrowful beast were from our gossip king, Char­ley. ‘That Lefty girl definitely slept with him,’ he said. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI said, ‘Male beasts can’t do it with humans.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCharley sniggered. ‘You believe that?’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet I did believe he was a pure beast. In one of Lefty’s paint­ings, he sat on a windowsill, not a stitch on him, clearly expos­ing the scales on his calf. His expression was a little shy, and therefore captivating. Everyone thought how beautiful he’d be, if he would only smile. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut he didn’t. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf he smiled, he would die. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘He’s dead,’ said Lefty now. She sat across from me, taking great mouthfuls of her ice cream. She looked terrible, not smil­ing either. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · · \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLefty said that on the night of a full moon, they had heard a long cry, like a phoenix. Cloud’s eyes had widened. In a panic, he ran to open the door. A girl was standing outside. Even in the murky light of the corridor, you could see she was gorgeous. She couldn’t speak, she just let out another cry, then hugged him tightly. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLefty asked her to come in and gave her a vanilla ice cream. The girl’s skin was flushed, as if blood was about to seep from it. Cloud said, ‘She’s sick.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis female beast was his sister, Rain, who was married to a rich man from the southern district. Now she clung to Cloud as they walked to the living room. They got her to drink a tincture of woad leaf, and still she wouldn’t stop shrilling. Cloud didn’t know what to do, so he called the human husband, only to have him snap in frustration, ‘She keeps screeching, and I don’t know what she wants – after all, I’m not a beast!’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCloud hung up and hugged his sister, kissing her cheeks over and over again. Both beasts were now letting out similar cries. Sitting in the armchair across from them, Lefty phoned her ex-boyfriend, Dr Fu. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe doctor hurried over, looking – according to Lefty – more handsome than ever before. He nimbly took Rain’s tem­perature and blood pressure, then said she was pregnant, and gave her an injection. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLefty called Rain’s husband, who was so overjoyed he could barely speak. Practically in tears, he choked, ‘Thank the heav­ens, an heir for the Wang family!’ Lefty hung up in a rage. Next thing she knew, a Mercedes-Benz was pulling up outside. When they said goodbye to Rain, she was still shrieking non­stop, though her skin was regaining its colour now. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCloud was all sweaty, and went to take a shower. Dr Fu paced around the living room, then suddenly embraced Lefty and said, ‘I’ve missed you.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey stayed with their arms wrapped around each other, reminiscing about bygone days, touching and kissing, their breaths urgent. As they tangled, the splashes from the bath­room were like the warm embrace of ocean waves. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe next morning, Cloud was dead. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLefty said, ‘He never smiled. I don’t know how he died.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI said, ‘I don’t know either.’ The artist looked distraught, which made her even more beautiful. She said, ‘I want to know how he died, I was practi­cally in love with him.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · · \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat night, the party ended abruptly. Outside the clubhouse, I saw Lefty and a man drive off in an expensive sports car, tires squealing with glee. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man next to me couldn’t stop praising her. ‘Ever since she got herself a sorrowful beast, she’s a new woman. Her paintings are more stunning than ever, and so is she – wonder when I’ll find one for myself.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe turned to me. ‘Aren’t you supposed to know about these things? Go find me one.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘It takes destiny for a human to tame a beast,’ I said. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe wasn’t having it. ‘How many beasts are there in Yong’an City? In the end, who knows who’s taming whom.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI laughed. ‘If you’re scared, you should leave.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · ·\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe sorrowful beasts came to the city many years ago and never left, never mind the dire warnings of zoologists, never mind floods or droughts or recessions or wars or stock market crashes or epidemics. They just stayed put in Yong’an, their numbers stable, like an eternal riddle. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFifty or sixty years ago, Yong’an had a great many beasts, and human beings were just one breed among them; but then war broke out, and amid this unrest, people battled the beasts for an entire decade. This period of history van­ished from the annals. It wasn’t all that long ago, but every­one knows, or pretends to know, only the barest facts about it. Most of the beasts vanished, driven to extinction. The sorrowful beasts survived, and became the most populous tribe in Yong’an City. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut no human could truly understand the mysteries of these creatures’ existences. The females married out, but the males couldn’t mate with people. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI went online to search for information about sorrowful beasts, trying to find out how Cloud might have died, but I found no leads apart from these scraps. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Maybe he ate too much bitter gourd and it killed him,’ I joked. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI called my university professor, a renowned Yong’an zoolo­gist. ‘Have you researched sorrowful beasts? I need to know what could suddenly kill them, apart from smiling.’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was silent for a moment. ‘Meet me for coffee tomorrow, we’ll talk then.’In the morning paper, I read a story about Lefty in the entertainment section – she’d been spotted on numerous dates with the son of a well-known construction magnate. In the accompanying pictures, they were drinking at a rooftop bar, the man young and dashing, grinning smugly. You could make out Lefty’s side profile, an eye-catching hoop dangling from one ear, her features exquisite. She was calm and melancholy, unsmiling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI took a sip of tea, and then another, and wondered if she was still in love with the dead beast. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe phone rang just then – my professor again. ‘Have you seen today’s paper? The picture of the lady painter?’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘That’s what I wanted to ask you about – it was her sorrow­ful beast who died.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA long silence. ‘Listen, it’s best if you don’t go poking into this.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Do you know how that beast died?’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘He may not have died.’ Another pause. ‘His soul might be immortal.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI laughed. ‘You’re talking about the City of the Dead?’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe City of the Dead was a place that, according to leg­end, lay beneath Yong’an City. Humans and beasts, cars and roads, rock bands and their followers, all living forever. Every mother scared her child with this horror story: ‘Don’t spend too long reading in the toilet, because while you’re distracted, a soul might rise up through the pipes and possess your body.’ This gave us all a healthy fear of lingering in the toilet, and it was only when we grew up that we realised we’d been tricked. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was still a little girl, I used to squat by the toilet for a long time, staring, hoping a soul would float up to talk with me. Human or beast would be fine. If one showed up, I’d say hello. That’s the sort of courteous child I was. It was sure to like me. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe phone was buzzing, the signal weak. The professor said, ‘Anyway . . . what I meant was—’ We got cut off. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e· · · \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI visited the female beast Rain in the wealthy dis­trict to the south. She greeted me politely in the hall, her belly already faintly swelling. ‘I’ve read your novels. They’re very good.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe was drinking iced chocolate, and her skin glowed pearly pink, her voice soft and warm. She sat in a corner of the room, back to the light, eyes gleaming black. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA sense of unease prickled me. ‘I’m here to ask about your brother.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRain’s face was blank. ‘Brother? I don’t have a brother.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I gaped at her, the security guard briskly walked in from the outer chamber. ‘Madam isn’t feeling well, miss,’ he said. ‘You should come again another day.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was very tall and expressionless, the spitting image of a sorrowful beast, though he was human. With a big, strong hand, he led me by the arm. ‘This way, miss.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRain remained on the sofa, watching me guilelessly. She said, ‘What’s wrong?’ Her ears were a little larger than aver­age, making her look like a temple Buddha floating among the clouds, unaware of worldly torments, asking his acolytes, ‘If they’re hungry, why not just have a meat bun?’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat night, at the Dolphin Bar, I ran into Charley with his new girlfriend, a timid-looking lady who sipped a glass of orange juice and sat silently next to us. I bummed a cigarette off him, and told him what had hap­pened that morning. ‘It’s infuriating,’ I said, ‘Getting pushed around like that.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI blew smoke right at his face, and he frowned as he waved it away. He said, ‘It’s not like you’re new to this, didn’t you know this would happen? You can’t blame anybody else.’","brand":"Melville House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302325932261,"sku":"NP9781612199092","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781612199092_286cf2a2-944a-4fdf-b66e-170de124a3c5.jpg?v=1742927074","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/strange-beasts-of-china-isbn-9781612199092","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}