Shanghai Express

the long version

In this suspenseful tale of seduction and deception, a wealthy banker is smitten by an alluring young woman while traveling aboard the express train from Beijing to Shanghai. A consummate storyteller and one of the most popular novelists of his day, Zhang Henshui sweeps us on board with them and takes us through train stations and back and forth between first-, second-, and third-class cars, evoking the sights and sounds and smells of this microcosm of the urban world. Here is popular Chinese fiction at its best. This socially and psychologically incisive portrait of modern China can be read with great return against issues of gender, class, and modernity. And if this is not enough, it is also a travelogue, providing a delightful read for anyone who has traveled or is simply curious about traveling by train in China. First serialized in Shanghai in 1935, Shanghai Express appears now in English for the first time.