FROM A CHINESE CITY

by Gontran de Poncins ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 21, 1957

A different species of travel is recorded in this charming book by the author of Home is the Hunter and Kabloonu (among others). For this is a portrait in miniature of a life that is soon to vanish. The city is Cholon, in Vietnam, a city that has retained the traditions and spirit of ancient China in a day when China itself is being radically changed. In its 200 years, Cholon has resisted- and still resists- change. Old China still survives, with its theatres and restaurants and people, and its smells and dirt as well, and its love of beauty in everyday life. Four miles from Saigon, the capital, Cholon is the Chinese pleasure city, the night city with taxi girls and gambling dens and Neon signs in Chinese characters; it is a day city of prosperous merchants and crowded shops. Life in Cholon is for all; the hotels are extensions of the streets; noise never stops; there are no closed doors. The merchants are grave and humorous and not above a bit of graft; the streets are crowded with street stalls in two feet of space. Travellers who do their travelling on Shank's mare and those who take their journeys by the home hearth alike will enjoy this book. And it is a natural for students of social mores.

Pub Date: Nov. 21, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1957

Categories: NONFICTION