You don't expect some guy making small talk on a train to turn into a real friend, but that was just the kind of friend Papa Qi was. And afterwards, Saturday be

Tan Feng was my one and only friend in Sichuan. He was the same age as me: about eight or nine. Tan Feng's family lived next door to us, and their other kids we

The train was late, and the wind was blowing Meng's coat open in the snow. With no sign of his cousin, he needed somewhere to stay the night. An old man enticed

Weeping Willow was a place that survived by serving long-distance drivers, with petrol, food and girls. The truck driver was badly shaken as he arrived there in

Bao Qing was a classic example of what people in Maqiao meant when they spat out the word 'intellectual'. Coming home to his old town for the holidays was just