Stories of city blues

Xue Yiwei, author of Taxi Driver.

The protagonists in Xue Yiwei's short stories may encounter a variety of scenarios, but they inevitably find themselves making the same choice: to run away.

They run because they lack a sense of belonging in the place they live. The efforts of an individual are never enough to belong to a collective.

This is what comes to mind when I close Taxi Driver, a collection of short stories by Xue. The collection, which was published this year, is a series of stories that revolve around the city of Shenzhen.

Shenzhen is one of the youngest cities in China. Very few residents grew up in the city but they can justifiably call themselves "Shenzheners" as they helped grow the city from a small fishing village to a bustling metropolis. They left their hometowns to pursue their dreams in the country's first special economic zone in the 1980s.

As China furthers its urbanization drive, the experience of Shenzhen may teach some valuable lessons about the development of a new metropolis. Xue's short stories may also provide some insight into various aspects of city life, which may serve as a reminder to urban planners of the pitfalls of urbanization.

In his short story Village Woman, a Canadian woman encounters a Chinese man on a train trip. Paul Benjamin Auster's New York Trilogy helps to establish a friendship between the two travelers. The Chinese man is reading a Chinese version of the book while she is reading an English one.

The two keep in touch by e-mail, and the Canadian women becomes interested in China, Shenzhen in particular. The Chinese man sends a letter and a painting to the Canadian woman, but dies after sending them.

This friendship that ends just before it has a chance to really take off prompts the Canadian woman to visit Shenzhen, where her now deceased Chinese friend spent more than a decade but failed to develop a sense of belonging.

To her surprise, she finds it hard to adapt to the pandemonium of Shenzhen. Some people want to take advantage of her and invite her to dinner, while others want her to teach their children English.

She begins to feel that the city needs her much more than she needs the city. She misses the tranquility she once enjoyed in her village in Canada. She struggles to develop a sense of belonging and she decides to leave.

Good literature not only entertains readers, but also provides food for thought. Xue's stories leave the reader questioning why all the protagonists choose to run away from the city where they live and work.

These stories do not reflect the experience of everyone. It would be silly to conclude that the majority of urban residents are not willing to stay in cities based solely on the characters in Xue's fictional work. But the fact that an increasing number of people squeeze their way into cities does not necessarily mean the majority of urban residents and villagers-turned-workers love their new city lives.

When the Canadian woman is asked why she chose to visit Shenzhen she says it is because of a painting. When asked if the painting is of buildings and streets, she says it is a painting of an ordinary person. She says it is about a small world in a dream.

In Taxi Driver, the story the collection takes its title from, a taxi driver dreams of creating a better life for his daughter and wife by working as hard as he can. But when a traffic accident deprives him of his daughter and wife, his dream is shattered and he decides to leave the city as his life there has become devoid of meaning.

Many villagers-turned-workers, like the taxi driver, leave their aged parents or children behind in rural areas to pursue their dreams in cities. It should never be enough for a city just to provide these people with a job. What they need is the chance to build a life, for their efforts to allow them to achieve their dreams.