Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang

Zhang Ailing: what an incredible writer; what enormous powers of observation.

In this collection of stories she dissects the differences between East and West (Red Rose and White Rose), the mainland and Hong Kong (Shanghai is transmogrified into the conservative East, while Hong Kong is represents an awkward mishmash; "Hong Kong garden parties are even better. Hong Kong society copies English custom in every respect, but goes on adding further touches until the original conception is entirely lost"), and casts her scrutinizing gaze on the figure of the overseas Chinese (George Qiao, Liuyuan etc) in an often cinematic style ("First, pour yourself a cup of tea, but be careful--it's hot! Blow on it gently. In the tea's curling steam you can see...a Hong Kong public bus on a paved road, slowly driving down a hill.").

I read 封锁 and 倾城之恋 in Chinese two or three years ago, I am afraid to say that there were a couple of misunderstandings on my part in my Chinese reading of 倾城之恋. With that being said (and my less than great Chinese admitted), I think that the translations in this collection captured Zhang's dynamism.

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