Mutual Strangers: And Other Misadventures in Nanjing

Tonight’s draught: Earthy flavours with a bitter aftertaste.

Nanjing nights are full of promise. Between men looking for a good time and women looking for love, the road home beneath the glossy veneer of the metropolis could lead anywhere…

Collecting two decades of remembrances from China’s premier literary caricaturist, these stories offer bite-sized misdeeds committed by the city’s underground literati. Freed from family duties, the “boys” spend their nights freewheeling and trying their luck with pretty girls amid a haze of cigarette smoke and cheap beer.

However, as the evening drags on, trouble brews and dates turn sour. Their only real solace is an unspoken camaraderie. When the sun rises, all that’s left behind, other than the hangovers and the sticky residue, are the tales of cruel pranks, cramped apartments, sleazy karaoke bars… and dead cats.

As the years roll on, maybe the joke will be on them – but for now, the night has only just begun.