The Birds of Shanghai

Résumé du livre

Seth Rosenfeld is a recent college graduate from New York, teaching English in 1980s Shanghai. There he meets Lan Ming, an engaging and sagacious traveler from the provinces, who stirs Seth's unexplored homosexual desires. Lan Ming seems to be everything Seth is not: unguarded, spontaneous, and at ease with his sexuality. They fall in love in the shadows and back alleys of a Shanghai under transformation, and also under the watchful eye of the Public Security Bureau.But Lan Ming has secrets. How does he stay in Shanghai without rousing the suspicions of his "work unit" back home? Who are the street friends he won't let Seth meet? Especially, where does his money come from?Seth's search for the truth about Lan Ming takes him on a personal journey-into Shanghai's secretive gay culture, into distant Chinese provinces, into his own psyche-as he discovers some devastating truths about his very nature.And just as Seth is getting closer to uncovering the mystery of Lan Ming, Shanghai erupts in anti-government protests, and the ever-looming Public Security Bureau closes in on the pair's illegal relationship?