I Am China
Authors: Xiaolu Guo
Also by Xiaolu Guo
Village of Stone
(translated from the Chinese)
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
UFO in Her Eyes
Lovers in the Age of Indifference
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Xiaolu Guo
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Nan A. Talese / Doubleday, a division of Random House LLC, New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Limited, Toronto, Penguin Random House Companies. Originally published in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, an imprint of the Random House Group Limited, London. This edition published by arrangement with Chatto & Windus.
Doubleday is a registered trademark of Random House LLC. Nan A. Talese and the colophon are trademarks of Random House LLC.
Jacket design by Emily Mahon
Jacket photograph by Masha Sadari
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Guo, Xiaolu, 1973–
I Am China : a novel / Xiaolu Guo.—First American Edition.
pages cm
“Originally published in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, an imprint of the Random House Group Limited, London.”
ISBN 978-0-385-53871-8 (hardcover) ISBN 978-0-385-53872-5 (eBook)
1. Short stories, English. I. Title.
PR9450.9.G86I26 2014
823′.92—dc23 2013049786
v3.1
I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street.
“
AS I WALKED OUT ONE EVENING
,”
W.H. AUDEN
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Prelude
one
Iona
1: London, April 2013
2: London, April 2013
3: Lincolnshire, January 2012
4: Lincolnshire, February 2012
5: London, April 2013
6: London, April 2013
7: Lincolnshire, February 2012
8: Lincolnshire, February 2012
9: London, May 2013
10: London, May 2013
two
Welcome to Dover
1: Dover, April 2012
2: Dover, April 2012
3: London, May 2013
4: Dover, April 2012
5: London, May 2013
6: London, May 2013
7: Dover, May 2012
8: London, May 2013
9: London, May 2013
10: London, May 2013
11: London, May 2013
12: London, May 2013
13: Shanghai, April 2012
three
Interim Zone
1: London, May 2013
2: London, May 2013
3: London, May 2013
4: London, May 2013
5: Zentrum Für Den Schutz Von Asyl, Switzerland, May 2012
6: Zentrum Für Den Schutz Von Asyl, Switzerland, May 2012
7: Zentrum Für Den Schutz Von Asyl, Switzerland, May 2012
8: London, May 2013
9: London, May 2013
10: Beijing, Millennium Eve, 1999
four
On the Road
1: Philadelphia, April 2012
2: London, May 2013
3: Chicago, May 2012
4: London, May 2013
5: London, May 2013
6: Wisconsin, May 2012
7: London, May 2013
8: Idaho, May 2012
9: London, May 2013
five
The Second Sex
1: Centre D’assistance Européen Pour Requérants D’asile, Switzerland, June 2012
2: Centre D’assistance Européen Pour Requérants D’asile, Switzerland, June 2012
3: London, June 2013
4: Centre D’assistance Européen Pour Requérants D’asile, Switzerland, June 2012
5: London, June 2013
6: California, May 2012
7: California, May 2012
8: Colorado, May 2012
9: Atlanta, May 2012
10: London, June 2013
11: London, June 2013
12: London, June 2013
13: Memphis, Tennessee, May 2012
14: London, July 2013
15: Boston, May 2012
16: Maine, May 2012
six
Talking to Satie
1: London, August 2013
2: London, August 2013
3: Centre D’assistance Européen Pour Requérants D’asile, Switzerland, June 2012
4: London, August 2013
5: Annecy, France, June 2012
6: Annecy, France, June 2012
7: Paris, June 2012
8: Paris, June 2012
9: Paris, June 2012
10: Paris, July 2012
11: Paris, July 2012
12: London, August 2013
13: Paris, July 2012
14: Paris, July 2012
15: London, September 2013
16: London, September 2013
17: London, September 2013
18: London, September 2013
19: Qing Huang Dao 780 Political Prison, China, December 2011
20: London, September 2013
21: London, September 2013
22: London, September 2013
seven
Return Home
1: London, October 2013
2: Beijing, May 2012
3: Beijing, May 2012
4: Zhejiang Province, June 2012
5: Zhejiang Province, June 2012
6: Zhejiang Province, June 2012
7: London, October 2013
8: Zhejiang Province, July 2012
9: London, October 2013
10: Zhejiang Province, July 2012
11: Zhejiang Province, July 2012
12: Zhejiang Province, July 2012
13: Scotland, October 2013
14: Isle of Mull, Scotland, October 2013
eight
Last Days in Crete
1: London, November 2013
2: London, November 2013