Teahouse in a Chaotic Age: Picking Up Attributes in a Warlord's Stronghold

Set in 1930s Beiping, the novel portrays the everyday bustle of life in the Republic of China through the small teahouse Ju Yi Xuan and the neighborhood around it. Blending episodic tales with an overarching storyline, it centers on the teahouse owner, Lao Le, whose life connects him with an assortment of characters, including rickshaw pullers, peddlers, fortune-tellers, down-and-out literati, and warlord concubines, in a series of humorous stories. The novel combines Lao She-style Beiping humor with the snappy quips of modern web fiction. It offers biting satire of turbulent times while warmly celebrating the optimism with which ordinary people make their lives.