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A novel to tell stories of Jews in Shanghai during WWII

Beila (her pseudonym), a female writer from Shanghai, has just finished her new novel, The Magic Piano, which is a romance based on the stories of Jews living in exile in Shanghai during the Second World War.
The book will be available at the 17th National Book Fair in Chongqing. The background of the book is the anti-fascist war in China, telling a story of a piano and the love between Li Mei, a Chinese Red Army orphan and a Jewish Pole pianist.
Beila had been living in Canada, and she returned to Shanghai to draw materials for her novel. She visited Shanghai Moses Guild Hall, and the Jewish Memorial Hall in the city to acquaint herself with the situation at that time. She even planned a trip to Vienna, to interview the descendants of the Jews who once stayed in Shanghai.
“Shanghai offered shelter to some 30,000 Jews during the war, and I am proud to write a novel based on that part of history as a Shanghainese,” said Beila.
Beila plans to release her second novel of the same topic by the end of 2007.

Holiday bookworms

As a 21st century consumer, I like shopping and I like doing it online – it takes all the effort out of walking and bag carrying, which can be so tiresome. Oh, and I like reading too, so I was pleased to hear of a new Chinese online bookstore, booksdirect.com.cn, which was launched six weeks ago. It specialises in English books, delivers for free to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing and will sell UK and US DVDs from May.
Logging on to their website, I was attracted to its basic layout and simple appearance. Different book categories (art, health, literature, business etc) in a left-hand column and pictures of a few bestsellers beside that made it easy to navigate, thankfully. I’ve tried the website of Garden Books on Changle Lu, but it’s pretty useless. It’s crowded, there’s nothing eye-catching about the weak grey font and what little information there is on the books is written in bad English.
From booksdirect.com.cn’s professional look I’d expected it to have more than the rather limited selection a quick browse revealed. I was particularly disappointed by the lack of any classics such as Charles Dickens or Jane Austen, although if you like recent releases or bestsellers you’d have no problem.
Something it’s hard to do online is judge a book by its cover. I can usually tell whether I want to read a book based on its synopsis on the back cover and while each book on booksdirect.com.cn comes with a clear and detailed description of its plot, it’s not the one provided by the publisher. I found the site’s summaries weren’t always objective and consequently I was wary of the books I didn’t already know about. For example booksdirect.com.cn describes the Da Vinci Code’s protagonist Robert Langdon as “the most original character to appear in years!” Hmm.
Eventually I settled on an old favourite, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and ordered it from booksdirect.com.cn. But although I seem to have ordered the only copy, since it’s no longer listed on the site. The process was surprisingly straight forward but I then worried it could become addictive, as I found myself tempted to buy another book-because you don’t have to pay until delivery it feels like you’re getting something for free.
Then the contradictory delivery times before and after I ordered (2-3 days before then 1-4 after) confused me and the no-show of a promised confirmation email made me sceptical about the service. But not for long. The next morning my book arrived between the agreed hours of 11am and 1pm. It wasn’t the latest edition, but it was brand new and in good condition.

Explosive new Diana biography to hit stores


Four months short of Diana, Princess of Wales’ tenth death anniversary, an explosive book about her is about to hit the stands.
The book, titled ‘The Diana Chronicles’, has been penned by the late Princess’ ‘friend’ Tina Brown, who not only portrays her as a spiteful and manipulative woman, but also as a “media savvy neurotic”.
Brown, who in 1985 attacked the Prince of Wales’ neglect of his young wife as the reason for their crumbling marriage just four years into their supposedly ‘fairy-tale’ life, has this time turned the tables on Diana, and portrays her as a “spiteful, manipulative”woman who was more enamored by the thought of being Queen than by Charles.
The book also reveals that Prince Charles was the one who was “in love” with his spouse during the couple’s marriage, and not vice versa.
Diana, she reveals, ruthlessly pursued Charles because of his position. When her mother Frances Shand Kydd tried to talk her out of the marriage, by demanding to know whether she loved the Prince or loved “what he is”, Diana retorted: “What’s the difference?”
A friend of Brown who has seen a copy of the book said that apart from the Prince of Wales and his two sons William and Harry, every member of the royal family ‘comes off badly’, especially Diana.
 
“Almost everyone except Charles, William and Harry comes off badly – the Queen, Camilla and, most of all, (Lady) Di. It is going to be highly controversial, but this book isn’t based on the myths that Diana created about herself and it certainly isn’t gossip,” the Daily Mail quoted the friend, as saying.
“Tina is incredibly well-connected. She has been able to persuade an unparalleled range of sources and eyewitnesses to talk fully and honestly for the first time, sorting through the layers of contradictions about Diana. Diana was a humanitarian who at one level really identified with the common people, as she thought of them. But she was also a very messed-up woman whose downfall was due to her own insane jealousy and self-obsession, the friend added.
Even the Prince of Wales’ current wife Camilla, the book suggests, was not so much interested in Charles as she was in her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she pursued relentlessly for six years.
It was only his infidelity that had Camilla becoming Prince Charles’ mistress.
The book, which is sure to rake up a controversy, also rubbishes accounts that Diana tried to commit suicide while pregnant with Prince William, or that she was a virgin until she married Charles, insisting that she had had “assignations” with Charles on the Royal train before their marriage.
Brown also rubbishes Diana’s claim in Andrew Morton’s book ‘Diana: Her True Story’ that when she discovered on the eve of her wedding that Charles still was seeing Camilla she was so upset, she said, that she ate everything in sight, becoming as “sick as a parrot”.
However, William Tallon, the Queen Mother’s page, has a very different memory of that night.
Brown says that he told her that Diana spent the night giddily celebrating.
He reveals that he watched her ride a bike around the Clarence House grounds singing: “I’m going to marry the Prince of Wales tomorrow!”
The author also insists that Diana was not about to marry Dodi Al Fayed, but was on the look out for a man richer than him.
“In August of 1997, Diana was seeking to replace what she had possessed as a Princess with a superstar’s version of the same. What she was really seeking was a guy with a Gulfstream,” she states.
The book, for which Brown reportedly received 1million pounds advance, is being published by Random House.
200,000 copies scheduled to be released in America and Britain, and the publishers already taking advance orders on Amazon. (ANI)

Auckland author wins top book award

Auckland author Marcia Stenson has won the top prize at the New Zealand Post Children and Young Adults’ Book Award for her non-fiction work Illustrated History of the South Pacific.
In a joint statement the judges said interpreting history for young people was challenging.
“But (Illustrated History of the South Pacific) more than meets the challenge.
“The production values are excellent and both publisher and author should be commended for producing a very visual and accessible presentation of a history topic we all need to know about.”
As well as Book of the Year, Stenson won the non-fiction category with her work.
The judging panel convener, Keith Olsen, said there was “considerable strength and depth” in both the artistic and business side of children’s book production in New Zealand.
Other NZ Post Award winners:

Picture Book: Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck! by Kyle Mewburn from Central Otago and illustrated by Wellington’s Ali Teo and John O’Reilly.
Junior Fiction: Thor’s Tale by Janice Marriott of Wellington.
Young Adult: Genesis by Bernard Beckett of Kapiti Coast.
Best First Book Award: The Three Fishing Brothers Gruff written and illustrated by Ben Galbraith from Gisborne.
Children’s Choice Award: Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!
The winners of each category, except Best First Book Award and Children’s Choice Award, were awarded $5000 with an extra $5000 for the top prize.
The Best First Book Award and Children’s Choice Award winners were presented with $1000 prize money.
(NZPA)

Beijing publisher to ignore Beijing’s ban of its horror story

A Beijing-based publisher says it will defy a municipal government ban on its horror tale and continue to ship copies of Death Note, one of eight books the city has ordered off the shelves.
The Beijing municipal government blacklisted the horror stories calling them “illegal terrifying publications”.
Hualing Publishing House says Death Note is not an illegal publication. “I want to make it clear that we have official approval to publish and we will continue to do so,” a man with the publishing house who declined to give his name told Xinhua over the phone.
Described by some readers as “exciting and interesting”, the books, which are mainly about ghosts, have a lot of followers on the Internet. The municipal administration of industry and commerce, however, says many young people are reading the books which it claims are “harmful to the psychological health of teenagers”.
The administration, which has been ordered to confiscate the publications, has sent teams to hunt down the books in bookstores and street vendors.
“We have received notice from a higher department to check the sales of books and book stores near schools are the main targets, “said an official with administration’s publicity office who also refused to give his name.
“Citizens are also welcome to report to us if they find the books,” he said, adding the administration has so far confiscated more than 500 copies.
The municipal government has received numerous complains from parents and educators who says students are spending too munch time reading the horror stories and not enough time studying, said the official.
“The books are not suitable for young students. Death Note for example, elaborates on different scaring ways of dieing — it will even make adults feel uneasy, let alone children who are still psychologically immature,” he said.
Hualing Publishing House, which distributes Death Note nationwide, saying the book is not specifically designed for young readers. The publisher’s spokesperson said he doubts the scary stories will cause psychological damage to readers and that people should have the right to choose to read the book or not.
Repeated calls to the Beijing city government office responsible for issuing the ban went unanswered on Tuesday.

Macao hosts exhibition of ancient books


The first Chinese-Portuguese dictionary displayed at an ancient book exhibition in Macao. [Photo: CRIonline]An exhibition on ancient books was kicked off on Friday at the Central Library in Macao to celebrate China’s second Cultural Heritage Day, which falls on June 9.
 
The exhibition from June 8 to August 8 is expected to offer visitors a review on the east-west cultural exchanges on the island city.

Also on display are historical records seen in books such as “A abelha da China”, the first weekly newspaper in Portuguese published in China, the first Chinese-Portuguese dictionary, and the works of Zheng Guanying, a thinker who lived in the late period of the Qing dynasty.

The exhibition is then expected to tour south China’s Guangdong province and Hong Kong.

Wishing the ‘Shakespeare of China’ a very happy birthday

Who is the “Shakespeare of China”? Certainly, he’s Cao Xueqin, author of Dream of the Red Chamber. The number, individuality, complexity and rich depth of this great work’s characters exceeded those of Shakespeare’s 36 or 37 plays. So, it’s not an exaggeration when Chinese compare Cao to Shakespeare and praise him as a pride of the nation.
In China, “Red Chamber craze” and “Red fans” have become fashionable phrases. Moreover, there is the term “Redology”, which refers to academic studies of this novel. This is interesting, because when I was a 17-year-old middle school student, I studied English very hard in order to translate and introduce this literary wonder to the readers of the world. I also coined the term “Redology”, which, I am honored to say, academic circles have recognized and applied extensively in recent years.
I worship Cao Xueqin. Four of the more than 30 kinds of books I’ve published on Redology have been biographies about Cao. Through research, I have proven that Cao was born on the 26th day of the fourth month on the ancient Chinese lunar calendar in 1724. On this day every year, I must pay homage to him by burning incense, eating the “longevity noodle” and composing poems to commemorate this precious “Red Letter Day”.
Dream of the Red Chamber is considered a great wonder worthy of the love and reverence of all Chinese. To me, this book takes the form of a novel, but it is a great tragedy in essence, and its artistic style is that of splendid poetry. This is the first of three dimensions of this work.
The second is this work’s wonderful mixture of culture, history and philosophy.
And the third is the combination of the cream of Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies, which serve as the backbone of Chinese culture.
Above all, with exceptional literary grace, the author expresses his pursuit of “truth, good and beauty”. He also conveys mortification from, and rebellion against, all acts and words that blemish and destroy truth, good and beauty.
Dream of the Red Chamber focuses on women, who were as a group discriminated against, repressed and flirted with in traditional Chinese society. The book relates their truthfulness, kindness and beauty while conveying their undue mishaps and tragic fates.
The author talks about the bitter experiences of the female gender at large, whom he referred to as “thousands of beautiful flowers and blossoms” (”qianhong”, “wanyan”). This should not be confused, disgraced or counterfeited by obscene replicas of this work, which feature “a love triangle” or “two girls vying for one man”.
Looking from the perspective of peak of the spiritual world, Dream of the Red Chamber aims to convey the truthful interrelationship of mankind – namely, “benevolence”, “affection” and “forbearance”, which are principles of Chinese culture. “Forbearance” (shu), as raised by Confucius, means “do not do to others what you would not have them do to you”.
In 1793, the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in the French Revolution introduced this Confucian concept. Exactly 200 years later, the Parliament of the World’s Religions passed the Chicago Declaration of the Religions for a Global Ethic. German theologian Hans Kung proposed that this concept of Confucius should be a general principle followed by mankind.
But in Dream of the Red Chamber, the chief character Jia Baoyu has furthered this concept to showing less concern for oneself than for others — what others (women) need, I must try to provide for them, taking nothing else into account.
The author Cao Xueqin has created his own, more complete and proactive ideals, which he hoped could make society, and even the world at large, more honest, sublime and harmonious. He purported that his “main interest is in discussing ‘qing’.”
The term “qing”, which roughly translates as “love”, is a true feeling and sentiment. It is a complex and subtle term, which is very difficult to adequately translate into English. To Cao Xueqin, “qing” was a completely selfless, all-embracing, spiritual and aesthetic way of thinking, which made people sympathetic, considerate, compassionate and empathetic towards others.
From this point of view, Cao can be regarded as the first new sage in modern history, following ancient sages Laozi, Zhuangzi, Confucius, Mengcius, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. And Cao’s novel is comparable to the classics of earlier periods.
This year, we should have a better celebration of Cao’s birthday. The fourth month of the lunar calendar is traditionally known as a “bright and warm” month. What a wonderful bright and warm season it truly is, when such an unparalleled literary star was born.
It was the work of this giant literary master that led readers to start thinking and gradually comprehend the meaning and value of life, and the origin, duty and mission of “mankind”. Mankind has desire, which causes feelings of “longing for more” and selfishness. But “qing” is totally altruistic.
Cao has raised the sublimity of Chinese culture to a new level, exceeding the attainments of previous novels in both nature and literature to create a glorious milestone that no one has yet surpassed.
Because of this, I have been “obsessed” with this author and his work, and I pay homage to him on his birthday. How could this be a trivial “thing of leisure”?

Nine-year-old girl earned 300,000 yuan by publishing a book

Fanjiang Guoyi, an ordinary schoolgirl from Dalian, Liaoning Province, was born in Jilin on October 21st, 1996. Their parents hoped their daughter could contribute more to the country. But they also hoped she could be happy in her life.
When she was 9, she wrote and published her first book, Playing Well in the Elementary School, which contains 120 thousand words. The copyright of the book was sold at 300 thousand yuan. She became a famous schoolgirl, and was interviewed by China Central Television.
Her father revealed that Fanjiang Guoyi had lived in 16 cities. She spent her kindergarten days in Xi’an and Hangzhou, and studied in the elementary school in Changchun, Yantai and Dalian. He said that her daughter needed time to adapt herself to life in the new city of Dalian, and she would probably write her new book in 2008.
“I hope she can receive higher education, and still continue to write books to commemorate her school days,” he said.

Student shows martial arts novels not just for boys



Qi Mo, a senior student in a high school in Guangzhou city gives her teacher a martial arts novel written by herself as a graduation gift. [Photo: xkb.com.cn]A senior student at a high school in China’s southern province Guangdong has written a martial arts novel for her teacher to prove kung fu books are not just for boys. The New Express reported on Thursday.

Qi Mo, who studies in Guangzhou city gave her former teacher the special graduation gift which comprises 600,000 Chinese characters and took three years to make.

The student was quoted as saying the reason why she wanted to write a kung fu novel was in response to a former teacher saying it was not an area for girls.
 
A writer of fiction since she was a child, Qi Mo wrote several science fiction novels while in primary school.

Her talents were recognized by a local primary school in Guangzhou and she was sent to receive writing training courses.

Qi Mo never stops writing and her readership expands from her parents to her schoolmates.

When she was in middle school, one of her teachers said it was almost impossible for girls to write kung fu stories, not only because there were already many masters in the area, such as Louis Cha, or Jin Yong.

Qi Mo decided to take on the so-called mission impossible and create a different kind of martial arts story.
 
Hers covers love, friendship and the difference between good and evil. She was quoted as saying she wants the work to reflect the personalities of her generation.

Li Guowei, an experienced writer and editor, reviewed Qi Mo’s work and said the plot covered an ordinary boy who lacks ambition but feels he needs to protect those close to him.
 
The work teaches us nobody is born a hero and thus anybody can be one, Li added.

Get your passport to great food in Shanghai


A woman poses with her “Passport to Delicacies” in Shanghai, in this recent photo. The handbook is being handed out to Shanghai visitors free of charge. [Photo: xmnext.com]
A pocket guide detailing locations of fine food in Shanghai is being handed out free of charge.

The booklet collects information on 40 or so carefully-selected restaurants, as well as nine major food streets or areas, the local Xinmin Evening News reports.

Holders will get access to a range of discounts at these restaurants.

With the catchy title: “Passport to Delicacies,” the handbook is one of seven such “passports” issued by the local government in a bid to better accommodate a rising number of visitors to the city.

Shanghai will serve as one of the football venues for next year’s Beijing Olympics, and is the holder of the 2010 World Expo.

Additional “passports” cover other tourist information such as the location of shopping centers and museums.

People can pick up the books at 170 star-rated hotels in the city.