Contents Prologue First impression (arrival) The way the pendulum swings Beijing, on the eve of a new year The first of October – National Day Let’s get to know each other first Mianzi Hello, have you eaten yet? Gaokao: the university entrance exam Yesterday’s China, today’s China Reform in 1979 Freshness is everything From black to green? Contemporary Chinese literature Change, does everything change? Spanish literature in Chinese translation These days it is not just Don Quixote which is read in Mandarin Mo Yan China’s front door key to the contemporary canon of world literature