Years of Red Dust is a collection of short stories by Qiu Xiaolong. The book in English was published in 2010;http://us.macmillan.com/yearsofreddust/QiuXiaolong (page visited on 4 February 2014). but the stories were originally published in Le Monde and a book in French was published in 2008., Qiu Xiaolong, Cité de la poussière rouge, translated from English by Fanchita Gonzalez Batlle, éditions Liana Levi, 2008 ().
It is a story about China between 1949 and 2005, told through changes experienced by people living in the Red Dust neighbourhood in Shanghai.Astrid Hygen Meyer, "Historiene om Kina fortalt gjennom nabolaget Rødt Støv, vil fortsette å komme, sier forfatteren", Klassekampen, 3 September 2011, page 3.
Plot Each chapter tells a story from a different year, consisting of two strands, slice-of-life personal histories of ordinary people living in Red Dust Lane, mixed with the ever-changing narrative of China's socialist history.Daisy Yan Du, 2011. University of Nebraska – Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska – Lincoln The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1924&context=chinabeatarchive Most of the stories begin with non-fiction excerpts from wall newspapers of China's past.Astrid Hygen Meyer, "Historie i boka ... innledes med et ekte utdrag fra en kinesisk veggavis.", Klassekampen, 3 September 2011, page 3. Incidents involve neighbors who are academics, those who own businesses, those who join the military, as well as manual laborers. One chapter includes a fictionalized account, based on a real life event, of preparations for the day U.S. President Richard Nixon visited Shanghai.Hanchoa Lu. 2018. "Shanghai flora: the politics of urban greening in Maoist China" Urban History, Volume 45, Issue 4, November 2018, pp. 660-68.
The setting is in Shanghai where "the flow of the green slime of corruption, pollution and greed (for money), races with the flow of blood and champagne", according to Aftenposten.Bodil Fuhr, "Shanghai. Der beskriver han korrupsjon, forurensning, og pengegriskhet så det grønne slimet renner om kapp med blod og champagne", Aftenposten, 3 September 2011, page 3.
Sales The book has been on best-seller lists in France and Germany.Astrid Hygen Meyer, Klassekampen, 3 September 2011, page 3.
Translations
The book has been translated to other languages, including: French: Cité de la poussière rouge, translated from English by Fanchita Gonzalez Batlle, éditions Liana Levi, 2008 (). German: Das Tor zur Roten Gasse. Norwegian: År i rødt støv (2011).
References
Further reading Jess Row, "The News From Shanghai", The New York Times Book Review, 17 October 2010, Arts and Entertainment, p. 21. Available on Academic OneFile.