A deliciously funny and moving comedy-of-manners about a Chinese father and son's experiences at the height of London's Jazz Age 'He was in London - why be bothered looking at it? Wasn't it bad enough just being there?' Newly arrived from China, Mr Ma and his son Ma Wei run an antiques shop nestled by St Paul's Cathedral, where they try to make a living amid the smog and bustle of 1920s London. As they struggle with money, misunderstandings and the ways of the English - from the overbearing patronage of missionary Reverend Ely to their well-meaning landlady Mrs Weddeburn and her carefree daughter - can understanding, even love, blossom? Both a moving story of the Chinese immigrant experience and a bitingly funny satire on the English, Mr Ma and Son delicately portrays the dreams and disappointments of those seeking a new life in a distant land. Translated by William Dolby, with an introduction by Julia Lovell

Rickshaw is a new translation of the twentieth-century Chinese classic Lo-t'o Hsiang Tzu, the first important study of a laborer in modern Chinese literature. While the rest of the Chinese literary world debated hotly, and for years, the value of proletarian literature, Lao She wrote the novel that the left wing insisted on but failed to produce.

The charming children's story popularized by celebrated modern writer Lao She is here retold in simplified Chinese, with pinyin romanization and at the 700 character level.