Tomorrow in Shanghai

by May-lee Chai

In a vibrant and illuminating follow-up to her award-winning story collection, Useful Phrases for Immigrants, May-lee Chai explores a complex blend of cultures spanning China, the Chinese diaspora in America, and in the world at large—revealing the complex schisms in the globalized world. Her stories illuminate the divides between rural and urban, male and female, rich and poor, and those in-between—always tracking the nuanced, knotty, and intricate exchanges of interpersonal and institutional power. Chai's stories are essential reading for an increasingly globalized world.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, China, Asian American, Contemporary, Short Story Collection, Asian Literature

166 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2022

Reviews

[Bkwmlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

While I liked this short story collection overall, the problem I had with it was similar to what I usually experience with short stories — the way the stories begin in the middle of an event and then break off suddenly, created a feeling of “incompleteness” that honestly made it difficult for me to truly enjoy this collection the way I would a complete story or novel. When I read a story, I’m pretty big on character development — which, for me, means being able to follow a character (or characters) through their journey and watching them grow and evolve in the process. Unfortunately, most short story collections naturally lack in this area due to the short amount of time the reader gets to spend with the characters. Oftentimes, as soon as I start to warm to a character, the story is over - the abruptness of it makes me feel like I’ve been left hanging and that I’m perhaps missing something. It’s a feeling I never enjoy having, which is why short story collections are oftentimes a hit or miss for me (the ones where the same characters “show up” throughout the collection or where there is some sort of connection between all the stories usually work better for me).

With this latest collection from May-lee Chai, one of the things I really liked was the variety of the stories in terms of type and genre — there were ones that explored modern day issues realistically while others veered more into the science fiction and fantasy realm. Having said that though, this became a detriment when it came to the stories that felt inadequately short, as it felt particularly jarring when I was suddenly being plucked out of one world and dropped into an entirely different one. This was made all the more frustrating when it would happen each time the story started to get interesting (or, as mentioned earlier, when I was starting to warm to a character and wanted to read more about them). By the time I got to the end of the collection, I felt dissatisfied and (I hate to say it) also a bit cheated.

Overall, I felt like this collection had potential, and based on the premise of this being about the global Chinese diaspora, I was actually quite looking forward to reading it. The content of the stories were good, but the overall feel was too choppy, causing this collection to fall a bit short in the end. I think if Chai were to take these short stories and expand them to be more complete (like perhaps turn them into novellas?), that would’ve worked better, at least for me (I would definitely read them if that were the case).

Received ARC from Blair Books via Edelweiss.

[Bloodorange · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would advise you to read past the first story to really get the feeling of stories in the collection.

Thought provoking, observant, intelligent: could be perhaps a bit less dry, but this was part of the appeal for me. (I started reading this collection looking for some new reading for the course, realised it doesn’t work, yet finished it with pleasure anyway.)

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

That last short story really threw me off, it was not fitting this collection at all in my opinion; I enjoyed reading it but it seemed like it should’ve been in a different book instead.

All these short stories were interesting and each had at least one magical moment which even gave me goosebumps from time to time. I came across this collection by chance and I’m happy I did, I wish there was more.

[Suzanna (TheMillennialJAReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is perhaps one of my favorite reads of the year. Each story feels whole and unique and gives us just enough, not leaving too many questions or gaps. This is not for ppl who expect short stories to be novellas. Why havent I read more from this author before??? Throughout this collection Chai seems to be teasing out the tension that can fester when white mothers raise mixed race children and specifically unambiguous biracial daughters *who do not look like them*. And more specifically choosing to raise them in environments that other and ostracize them, treating them like outsiders & spectacles in a zoo, constantly staring at and pointing out their differences. What strikes me about these characters is how the mother somehow become the victims who need to be sheltered and coddled by the very daugthers they never defended against their beloved- racist- community. It's heartbreaking and infuriating as a reader witnessing the mental and emotional turmoil characters like Hong went through to accommodate her mother’s fragility. After reading this I followed up with a little research and realized how personal this experience is to Chai who is mixed race and partly grew up somewhere in the middle of America.


In the middle of the collection, I got the sense that this was about Chinese-American families and friends trying to hold on to each other and their traditions across states and continents as their world changes. I loved that some of the stories are written from children's perspectives and done so well. Grandmothers and grandfathers play such important roles. I can definitely identify with the experience of some of these children & how their parents consistently silenced them w/o understanding the harm it does.


If there was story I would love more info about it's the first one, even though it did what it was supposed to do- build thrill and excitement- I would love the mystery to be solved but realistically I'm thinking if the Chinese state is involved: NEVER!


As a new sci-fi reader *blushes and bats eyelashes*😹 (The Lesson), the last story was fantastic. I never expected us to be on Mars! The level of imagination that went into this and maybe this is because I'm new to the genre but I never knew about clones before, I was shocked upon shocked. Imagining a universe where everything comes to head and capitalism, misogyny and authoritarian leadership haunts humans even in Mars had my eyes wide open.

[Edward Giordano · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short-story collection bursting off the pages with creativity. I will say the first and titular story was my least favorite, but I'm glad I read beyond that. Life on Mars made me wonder what it would be like to move to a new country with no family as a teenager, and how foreign everything would feel, be, and taste. The Mother-Daughter relationship in Hong's Mother will stay with me for a long time. And the left turn final story, The Nanny, was a science fiction surprise that made me want another 100 pages to delve into that world deeper.

[Brielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty odd somewhere towards the end but is still a nice read. its witty and potent.

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story collection is really interesting, and focuses on the Chinese American experience in a way that I haven't seen done before. There are several stories in this collection which have a woman or girl MC whose father is Chinese and mother is white, and it was refreshing to see issues that come from being mixed race in that way. I also really appreciated the variety in this collection: while most of the stories are contemporary character studies, a couple felt historical, one was definitely set in the future, and the narrators—though all related to the Chinese diaspora in some way—had definite variations among them, as well.

[Susan (The Book Bag) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think reading short story collections by a single author is the best way to get a feel for the versatility of that author. Tomorrow in Shanghai covers several different topics and gave me insights to a culture I am not familiar with—China—as well as giving me a peek at the Chinese people living within America and what they have to deal with.

The stories are very well written and were enjoyable. Reading this definitely made me want to take a look at the author's other works to expand my knowledge of the Chinese culture.

[Lisha Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was a good book overall and the short stories were interesting. However, most stories felt like they ended right when they were getting good. This felt like a book of good short story ideas and not enough story development.

[KimY Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the short stories. The story with the grandparents visiting while getting used to life in suburban US felt too close to home. Rated 4 stars as I was wanting more after each story ended, esp the last sci fi chapter.

[bindu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good! Interesting read…not too many feelings on it beyond sadness for a few tales but it was intriguing and thought provoking

[Noy Buchman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ if this book was a novel, instead of short stories, it would have been a five star read.

“it was not an ideal job, but this was not an ideal world.”

“i’ll feel better when i’m home. he'd definitely feel better tomorrow in shanghai.”

“sometimes, growing up, hong had wondered if her mother was embarrassed by her presence. the way all the white women in their town asked aloud if she was adopted. it was as though the church ladies couldn't imagine that hong's mother, a white woman like themselves, had chosen to marry a chinese man and had s*x with him, and given birth to two mixed-race children” (i mixed two sentences)

“hong began to think maybe it wasn't her mother who had first drifted away. maybe it was hong who had chosen to leave her mother behind.”

“lu-lu silenced the little voice in her head that liked to criticize her every move and second-guess her every thought. she allowed herself to be bathed in the feeling of being loved. it didn't matter anymore that the feeling might not last, at least not as long as she had thought she wanted.”

“in Chinese the word for family and the word for home were the same.”

“at thirteen, lu-lu dreamed of nothing so much as leaving, and she dreamed of a fresh start, a new place, a new home where no one knew them, or who they had become. unhappy people shouting in their own home.”

“anping had seen men like this all her life. arrogant wealthy men with better connections, more money, powerful families who thought they were better than everyone else because they were born luckier.”

[Kristin | ktlee.writes · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOMORROW IN SHANGHAI by May-Lee Chai is a slim collection of short stories about the Chinese diaspora. In these narratives, we get glimpses of a romance blossoming between two Chinese American women expats living in China; the fraught relationship between a white mother and her biracial daughter; the economic pressures that cause a doctor to harvest organs from executed criminals in rural China; and a nanny on Mars who realizes the family she’s working for isn’t what they seem.

The stories address what it means to love, acclimate to life as an immigrant, navigate power dynamics in academia, and be a child in a bewildering world. Various cultural touchpoints made this collection special to me, such as White Rabbit candies, riding a train across China, and the hukou system governing where one can live even in a Martian future.

Chai’s prose is understated and works well with these slice-of-life stories. The tales prompted me to consider the meaning of family, the ongoing tension of immigrant identity, and the beauty of caring for those we’re supposed to disdain. These are quiet, unassuming narratives that serve as refreshing snippets, perfect for a change of pace or to pick up when you only have a few minutes to read. Though they aren’t interconnected, there are nice echoes in the themes that make it a cohesive volume.

Fans of THE LAND OF BIG NUMBERS (Te-Ping Chen) will likely enjoy this collection as well. Thank you @blairpublisher for this gifted copy!

[Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 of 5.

Terdiri dari 8 cerita pendek tentang kehidupan keluarga ABC (American-born Chinese). Hampir seluruh ceritanya berhubungan dengan keluarga atau sahabat.

#1 Tomorrow in Shanghai
#2 Life in Mars
#3 The Monkey King of Sichuan
#4 Hong's Mother
#5 White Rabbits
#6 Jia
#7 Slow Train to Beijing
#8 The Nanny

Penulisan May-Lee Chai terbilang mudah dimengerti.
Secara keseluruhan premis dari setiap ceritanya menarik dan unik, namun saya merasa akan lebih baik jika ada character development-nya walaupun tidak terlalu mendetail (saya paham cerita pendek memang hampir seluruhnya punya keterbatasan untuk point ini).

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Cerita favorit saya adalah "White Rabbits".
Permen White Rabbits salah satu permen yang sering saya makan saat kecil dulu. Melihat keakraban Ning Ning dan YeYe, mengingatkan saya pada mendiang Kakek yang sering membawakan biskuit susu kesukaan saya.

Saya rasa cerita terakhir "The Nanny" menarik sih tentang manusia yang tinggal di antara clones. Tapi menurut saya it doesn't fit in this book.
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[Susie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

(thank you to the publisher and BookSparks for my copy of this book)

4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5

It's books like these that are making me slowly start falling in love with short stories. I always think that I don’t love them, but then I find a book of them that I really, really works and it changes my mind.

My favorite and least favorite thing about them is that a really good short story always leaves me wanting more. And honestly, that’s how I felt about nearly every story in this short book. I would have read an entire novel built off any of them. But that said, they all work really well as short stories and each left me with a sense of satisfaction.

The stories often feature struggles in family relationships, especially children of immigrants and their parents; racism; socioeconomic divides, and more. My favorite was the final story "The Lesson" because I had NO idea where it was going and it totally sucked me in with its weirdness and sci-fi futuristic feel. But honestly, there isn't a story in this book that I didn't enjoy.

Tomorrow in Shanghai is the perfect book to pick up each night before bed to read a story or two and I highly recommend it!

[Wren Rusic · Rating 3 out of 5]

May-Lee Chai tackles poignant and important topics in her short stories, but the directness of her writing is overshadowed by the brevity of her works. Practically every narrative feels underbaked, and her language is too casual to make up for the marginal pay offs we get by the end of the stories, if there is any. “Life on Mars” and “White Rabbits” were my favourite out of this collection, but I felt as though they also suffered from Chai’s terse style. For those looking for a quick read, this may be the optimal collection, but I think the weight of Chai’s themes warrant more introspection and attention to detail.

“Jia” was the strongest out of this collection, but its emotional arc was practically eclipsed by the last story in the collection, “The Nanny”. While this story had similar themes to the other works, its genre made it stick out like a sore thumb, and like the other stories, its ending was the weakest part. It had great potential, however, so I’m interested to see how Chai would approach writing a sci-fi or contemporary novel. I will be checking out Chai’s earlier short story collection to see how it compares to this one.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually I find that short story collections are more work than reading a novel. This collection was different and had flow. Some stories featured a white mother with a mixed race child, often with the mother distancing herself from the child, pretending she wasn't her mother. Difficult parenting situations were described, mostly emotional abuse. In two stories, a child had to clean up the parent's broken dinner plates (with the food on them) and had to go to bed hungry. The racism experienced by these characters in the midwest was much higher than in coastal cities. and may have contributed to the anger and abuse.

One story examined sexual harassment by a powerful academic advisor. "His taste assured what the world read of Chinese literature. Chinese women would continue to be his targets, and no one here or there or anywhere would do a thing about it. If anything, the women would be blamed for sleeping with a white American man."

The final story was set in a future off-world. I enjoyed all the stories here with the exception of the title story.

[Lauren Shawcross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very tight collection of short-stories following Chinese and Chinese-American protagonists. Like any collection, it has its highs and lows. The opening story, which is the title story, follows a doctor who harvests the organs of executed prisoners, and has a little sci-fi spice. The closing story is straight sci-fi a la Blade Runner, including space travel, cyborgs, clones, and even more dystopian social hierarchies than we inhabit now. Where the collection shines, though, is when it remains down to earth: three stories in a row follow the same protagonist, a woman named Lu-Lu, from her memories of her grandfather to her experiences with Midwestern racism as a member of a white/Asian family to her romantic experiences as an American studying abroad in Nanjing. The last of the triumvirate, "Slow Train to Beijing," is by far the standout of the collection. It follows Lu-Lu in 1980s China as she falls for another Chinese woman, who is engaged to a white expat:
"The fiancé with money who loved her like all the other beautiful Chinese things he collected." (98)
Overall, I found the collection introspective and sweet, and the insights on the mixed-race family dynamics moving. Chai's prose is very straightforward and digestible, and there are one or two stories that don't land as hard as the others, but this is a strong offering.

[Harold Hoss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection albeit with *occasionally* stilted dialogue. There are stories in this collection that deserve 10 stars - and at least one that I've already forgotten.

I think what is holding me back from giving this 5 stars is the lack of coherence in this collection. I blame this on the decision to include several "linked" stories about a character named Lulu (most of which I enjoyed!) alongside stories that take place on, for example, Mars. It somehow makes the collection feel more disjoined than if the stories had all been completely unrelated. It's kind of like the difference between listening to a really great album by one of your favorit musicians and listening to their greatest hits. The songs are still great, but somehow you don't have that same sense of completeness.

That being said, I think this collection is worth reading for two or three of the stories alone. There's a scene in this collection where a Chinese man is forced to come to terms with the fact that trash *isn't* blowing out into his yard night after night that is just heartbreaking.

[Alexander Pechacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite short story in this collection was Jia. But I really got interested when the character Lu-lu met the character Alex in Slow Train to Beijing and that meeting made me very happy to read. Lu-lu’s finding zhen shi de mei guo or “the real America”, the kind in black and white photos in Jia made me even happier. I figure the interracial marriage Lu-lu’s parents had made for an explanation of what reactions one can come across and I sensed some hostility while neighbors dumped their trash on their lawn. Alex’s friends in Slow Train to Beijing were cool wearing interesting paint-splattered clothes or clothes cut in new and interesting ways. AND Alex’s notion of what is culturally “cool” like music in clubs resonated with me. I felt romantically speaking, Lu-lu felt left out after Alex introduced Kyle, her fiancée to Lu-lu after their one night excursion. But the actual slow train they took together showed Alex was not shallow and would never give the third wheel the cold shoulder. That story worked for me, but I couldn’t quite grasp the strangeness of the last story. Otherwise these stories meshed together quite well.

[Soni | soni.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories explores culture spanning China, the Chinese diaspora in America and the world at large. They illuminate the divide between rural/urban, male/female, rich/poor and those in between. Her stories are essential reading for an increasingly globalized world.

I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. They all give a quick glimpse into a Chinese individual's life somewhere around the world. With short stories, sometimes I feel that I didn't get enough detail or want to know more, and that did happen with a couple of the stories (which I'm certain is intentional but I can't help myself!), but some were really satisfying to read. As a minority and daughter of immigrants, I'm a huge fan of these types of stories, and this book did not disappoint!

Thank you to BookSparks for the finished copy, this book came out last month.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a good short story collection. Chai opened my eyes up to many issues facing Asian and Pacific Islander communities of which I had not thought about before. The Monkey King of Sichuan was particularly interesting as Chai writes about the world of academia and Asian Studies departments, asking the important question about the ways in which race, nationality, and gender all compete to determine who gets to be the "expert." I would have given the collection a solid five stories except for the fact that two of the stories are essentially the same, just with changed character names. I would have also liked to have seen her tease out sexuality in more of the stories besides just Slow Train to Beijing.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

In two of the most memorable stories from her new collection, May-Lee Chai puts us in situations that most of us couldn't possibly imagine being in. One involves an execution and one takes place on a Martian colony. But the deftness of her writing places us just as assuredly in the heads and hearts of these characters as any other. Throughout the book, Chai lead us on explorations of love and longing, and prejudice and patriarchy across the spectrum of the Chinese diaspora. If you've ever felt like an outsider, been separated from a loved one, or had a difficult relationship with a family member, you'll likely find yourself in these characters. Even if you find yourself on Mars!

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

May-lee Chai's latest short story collection, Tomorrow in Shanghai , examines the complexities of culture rooted in Chinese identity, particularly the Chinese diaspora. From the countrysides of China to the suburbs of America, Chai's prose dissects and reassembles each unique narrative with unsparing, poetic care. The approach to short stories as purely anecdotal—essentially forcing the reader to immerse themselves in any time or place—also helps this collection thrive: The bubbling chaos resulting from Chai’s storytelling teases out both the passionate love and resentment planted in each story. Additionally, the alluring simplicity of May-lee Chai’s writing allows the intricacies of familial conflict and diasporic (Chinese) identity to flourish. Overall, Tomorrow in Shanghai is a beautiful collection that nearly turns the reader into an aesthete.

[alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this short story collection. There was a variety of stories but all dealt with Chinese diaspora experiences, whether coming from China to the US, living as a mixed-race child in the US, studying in China as a Chinese- or Taiwanese-American, and even from China to a Mars colony. The scifi-esque stories framing the collection was an interesting choice, as many of the stories in the middle were more contemporary/recent historical-based, but nonetheless I found something to love in each story. I also appreciated the queerness that popped up. ❤️ A sturdy, simple, well-written collection altogether.

[Davina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like a book with half finished story ideas

Like 
- I love the short stories shared from different kids growing up Chinese 
- Quick read with potential for their individual stories to become something more

Dislike 
- Because they are short stories, it always feels incomplete when they end. Nothing really wraps up
- The same themes are repeated through the short stories with similar characters and actions 
- They feel more like story ideas rather than an actually short story with an ending 

[Lynda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tomorrow in Shanghai is the name of the first short story and the one that I thought was rather good although a bit gritty. It takes place in China. Most of the rest of the short stories take place in California, and there's a sci-fi short story at the end. The title of the book is click-bait to me, one that promises interesting stories revolving around fascinating people and events in China, instead I was fed a bunch of prosaic prose and just really mediocre writing. It certainly felt like the author's diary notes had turned into so-called short story fiction writing. Meh, not for me.

[Sara I · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated the diversity in these stories, they had common threads tying them together but each one was distinct as a reader. In terms of the voice of the character, the location, what was going on in the story and even the genres! I particularly enjoyed the final story included, "The Nanny." It was more sci-fi and speculative fiction and it was quite gripping and made me have a lot of thoughts. I would have easily read an entire novel within the world of that story. This was my first time reading anything by Chai, but would read more now!

[Roger DeBlanck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chai explores Chinese culture over a range of settings from the homeland to the diaspora, and she infuses elements of sci-fi and fantasy to diversify this collection. These stories could have been more interesting, but the style they’re written in is frustrating. They read in such an abrupt and matter-of-fact fashion that they come off feeling more like reports rather than enthralling narratives.

[Annalisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 or 3/ 5 stars. I’m not a huge short story person, but I wanted to push myself to try something new and I know Chai’s writing is fantastic. I really didn’t vibe with the last story (sci-fi seemed an odd choice for the collection), but the stories did make me think and want to discuss them. I kept thinking of things I’d like to discuss if I was reading this collection for a class.