Pallavi Aiyar’s 2008 memoir, Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China, details the six years she spent living in Beijing, first teaching English and then becoming a reporter for The Hindu. Now stationed in Brussels with the Business Standard, Aiyar’s articles tend to focus on topics such as Belgium’s cultural conflicts and theuneven parallels drawn between India and China. For this reason, I was quite surprised to learn that Aiyar’s second book, to be released by Harper Collins India in early 2011, is a story of Beijing narrated by two cats: Tofu and Soyabean, the protagonists of Chinese Whiskers, share the story of their hutong life amidst the backdrop of the SARS epidemic and pre-Olympic construction. In a concise and gripping tale, Aiyar conveys the chaotic and ever-changing landscape of Beijing in the early 2000s as experienced by some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, both human and feline. Eager to learn more about this unusual book, I posed a few questions to Aiyar via e-mail

Cunningham, Maura Elizabeth

English

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012 China Beat Archive
2010
Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/chinabeatarchive
Part of the Asian History Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, and
the International Relations Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the China Beat Archive at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been
accepted for inclusion in The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012 by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska -
Lincoln.
Cunningham, Maura Elizabeth, "Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers" (2010). The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012. 835.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/chinabeatarchive/835
Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers 
November 30, 2010 in Books, Interview by mcunningham | Permalink 
By Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 
Pallavi Aiyar’s 2008 memoir, Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China, details the six years she 
spent living in Beijing, first teaching English and then becoming a reporter for The Hindu. Now 
stationed in Brussels with the Business Standard, Aiyar’s articles tend to focus on topics such 
as Belgium’s cultural conflicts and theuneven parallels drawn between India and China. For this 
reason, I was quite surprised to learn that Aiyar’s second book, to be released by Harper Collins India 
in early 2011, is a story of Beijing narrated by two cats: Tofu and Soyabean, the protagonists 
of Chinese Whiskers, share the story of their hutong life amidst the backdrop of the SARS epidemic 
and pre-Olympic construction. In a concise and gripping tale, Aiyar conveys the chaotic and ever-
changing landscape of Beijing in the early 2000s as experienced by some of the city’s most vulnerable 
residents, both human and feline. Eager to learn more about this unusual book, I posed a few 
questions to Aiyar via e-mail: 
MEC: How did you come to write a book that views Beijing from a cats’-eye perspective? 
PA: I spent five years living in Beijing’s hutongs. These were neighbourhoods that reflected many of 
the tensions generated by the intersection of China’s almost remorseless embrace of modernity with 
persisting forms of a more traditional, communal way of life. 
Animals were an intrinsic part of the hutongscape. At twilight you could sometimes spot the elongated 
silhouette of huang shu lang (黄鼠狼 the yellow weasel), the Beijing equivalent of the city fox, tip 
toeing across the roofs of courtyard houses sniffing for prey. Regardless of the season old men in 
patched up Mao suits would sit around corner stores on low stools, their caged song birds proudly on 
display next to them. 
And then there were the dogs. The hutongs were disproportionately peopled with retirees and their 
pet dogs; the ever dwindling younger generation having taken off for swankier addresses. The aural 
backdrop to life in these alleyways was therefore punctuated by the yapping of Pekinese dogs who 
were as pampered and loved by their elderly owners as a favoured grandchild. 
This was an environment where people and animals lived cheek to jowl, the cramped spaces of the 
living quarters forcing everyone out on the street. 
In my previous book, Smoke and Mirrors, I wrote extensively about my life in the hutongs and this 
was one aspect of the book that people across the world, be it in India, China or the US, seemed 
fascinated by. It seemed natural therefore to situate my novel in this geography and the cats just 
seemed an intuitive and interesting way to gain entry into this world. 
Especially since in 2006 my husband and I adopted two kittens ourselves and through that process 
became acquainted with a whole new side to Chinese society. We came to meet dedicated cat 
protection activists, disillusioned veterinarians and wise grandmothers, some of whom ended up as 
characters in the novel. 
That said, I’m also a hopeless anthropomorphiser and have always loved books with animals as 
principle characters. 
MEC: Your website calls Chinese Whiskers “a modern fable.” What do you mean by this? Have you 
read other works that fit into this genre? 
PA: A fable is usually defined as a traditional morality tale which uses animal stories to teach a moral. 
At heart Chinese Whiskers is a fable. Through the eyes of Tofu and Soyabean we are warned of the 
corruption that can result from a society experiencing fast paced change, where long-established 
moorings are coming undone, leaving people without a moral compass. 
But although it’s a fable, it’s in an updated form, set in a modern-day context. Beijing in the early 
2000s was a time that witnessed a frenetic recasting of the city’s topography and also placed 
strenuous demands on people to come to grips with new ideas and realities. Hence I call it a “modern 
fable.” 
In the current context, anthropomorphic works tend to be considered unfashionable and commercially 
unviable by the publishing world. I was extraordinarily lucky in having my story accepted. But that 
means I haven’t come across other works that fit this genre of late which makes Chinese 
Whiskers quite a unique attempt. 
MEC: In what way is Chinese Whiskers a follow-up to Smoke and Mirrors? In your view, how do the 
two books fit together? 
PA: On the surface the two books are very different. Smoke and Mirrors was a work of non-fiction that 
blended reportage and memoir to tease out the divergent implications of the choices the modern 
Chinese and Indian states have made. It was received with some enthusiasm by China watchers, geo-
strategic analysts, diplomats, journalists and the general reader with an interest in international 
relations. 
Chinese Whiskers, on the other hand, is a novel with cats in it. Many of those who enjoyed Smoke and 
Mirrors don’t know what to make of this, when I tell them. Cats are not serious. Cats don’t make for 
analytic insight. 
To begin with I beg to differ vis-a-vis the imputed lack of seriousness of cats. But the larger point for 
me is that there is in fact a logical continuity between Smoke and Mirrors and Chinese Whiskers. 
Several chapters in the former sought to evoke the rhythm and texture of life in Beijing at a particular 
moment. Themes that came up in Smoke and Mirrors included those of a sense of moral anomie in the 
wake of fierce materialism, corruption, the role physical architecture plays in moulding social relations. 
These are all themes and issues that Chinese Whiskersaddresses. But I think its appeal is wider than 
that of Smoke and Mirrors. It is intended for people who may be more interested in cats than China to 
begin with, but hopefully might end up being drawn to learn more about a country and culture they 
once knew little of. It also works for a broader age group, including younger readers. And hopefully it 
will be an entertaining diversion for the more “serious” China watchers as well. 
MEC: It’s become fairly common for Western reporters to write stories about the growing importance 
of pets as status symbols for upwardly mobile Chinese, but most of those articles focus only on dogs 
(here’s a recent example from the New York Times). How are attitudes about cat ownership different? 
PA: I think despite the surge in popularity of dogs as pets, there is a fairly mainstream attitude in 
China that persists in seeing them as social pests. The (mistaken) idea that large dogs are aggressive 
and prone to attack people lies behind the rule in most big cities that specifies the size and breed of 
dog that one can own. They are also seen as a source of rabies and stories of anti-dog mob rampages 
resulting in the massacre of animals sporadically emerge. 
Cats on the other hand, with the exception of the SARS epidemic, are not seen as a public health 
menace and there is greater tolerance of them. Their ownership is not restricted in number and there 
is no cat license fee, unlike for dogs. At the same time they are not seen as a prestigious 
accoutrement in the manner in which some middle class people look at expensive breeds of dogs. 
In the hutongs if they are kept as pets it’s for utilitarian reasons; for catching rats rather than as is 
common with small dogs, as child substitutes. 
At the same time there is a sub culture of cat protection societies which are fiercely committed to 
feline rights and working with stray animals to house and sterilize them. There is no exact equivalent 
for dogs since stray dogs are so much rarer in an urban context. 
Differences apart, both cats and dogs share a similar and uncomfortable middle ground in China, 
somewhere between pet and food. While dogs are eaten in the north as a warming meal in the winter, 
cats are consumed quite commonly in southern China. 
MEC: How did your own cats react to the move from Beijing to Brussels, and do you see that 
experience leading to a sequel to Chinese Whiskers? 
PA: Our cats have taken to non-hutong life in Brussels’ stately maison de maître, as though they were 
born to a life of cheese and chocolates. I suppose I can envisage a sequel titled from “From Dustbin to 
Diplomats” detailing the transformation in their fortunes. On the other hand, life in Brussels lacks the 
elemental drama of hutong existence and Belgium as a whole just doesn’t compare as a setting to 
China at the time of SARS and the Olympics. But who knows? Intrigue in the corridors of the European 
Commission might just lend itself to a sequel. 
Tags: Chinese Whiskers, Pallavi Aiyar, Smoke and Mirrors 
 


Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - LincolnDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - LincolnThe China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012 China Beat Archive2010Coming Distractions: Chinese WhiskersMaura Elizabeth CunninghamFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/chinabeatarchivePart of the Asian History Commons, Asian Studies Commons, Chinese Studies Commons, andthe International Relations CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the China Beat Archive at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012 by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska -Lincoln.Cunningham, Maura Elizabeth, "Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers" (2010). The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012. 835.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/chinabeatarchive/835Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers November 30, 2010 in Books, Interview by mcunningham | Permalink By Maura Elizabeth Cunningham Pallavi Aiyar’s 2008 memoir, Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China, details the six years she spent living in Beijing, first teaching English and then becoming a reporter for The Hindu. Now stationed in Brussels with the Business Standard, Aiyar’s articles tend to focus on topics such as Belgium’s cultural conflicts and theuneven parallels drawn between India and China. For this reason, I was quite surprised to learn that Aiyar’s second book, to be released by Harper Collins India in early 2011, is a story of Beijing narrated by two cats: Tofu and Soyabean, the protagonists of Chinese Whiskers, share the story of their hutong life amidst the backdrop of the SARS epidemic and pre-Olympic construction. In a concise and gripping tale, Aiyar conveys the chaotic and ever-changing landscape of Beijing in the early 2000s as experienced by some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, both human and feline. Eager to learn more about this unusual book, I posed a few questions to Aiyar via e-mail: MEC: How did you come to write a book that views Beijing from a cats’-eye perspective? PA: I spent five years living in Beijing’s hutongs. These were neighbourhoods that reflected many of the tensions generated by the intersection of China’s almost remorseless embrace of modernity with persisting forms of a more traditional, communal way of life. Animals were an intrinsic part of the hutongscape. At twilight you could sometimes spot the elongated silhouette of huang shu lang (黄鼠狼 the yellow weasel), the Beijing equivalent of the city fox, tip toeing across the roofs of courtyard houses sniffing for prey. Regardless of the season old men in patched up Mao suits would sit around corner stores on low stools, their caged song birds proudly on display next to them. And then there were the dogs. The hutongs were disproportionately peopled with retirees and their pet dogs; the ever dwindling younger generation having taken off for swankier addresses. The aural backdrop to life in these alleyways was therefore punctuated by the yapping of Pekinese dogs who were as pampered and loved by their elderly owners as a favoured grandchild. This was an environment where people and animals lived cheek to jowl, the cramped spaces of the living quarters forcing everyone out on the street. In my previous book, Smoke and Mirrors, I wrote extensively about my life in the hutongs and this was one aspect of the book that people across the world, be it in India, China or the US, seemed fascinated by. It seemed natural therefore to situate my novel in this geography and the cats just seemed an intuitive and interesting way to gain entry into this world. Especially since in 2006 my husband and I adopted two kittens ourselves and through that process became acquainted with a whole new side to Chinese society. We came to meet dedicated cat protection activists, disillusioned veterinarians and wise grandmothers, some of whom ended up as characters in the novel. That said, I’m also a hopeless anthropomorphiser and have always loved books with animals as principle characters. MEC: Your website calls Chinese Whiskers “a modern fable.” What do you mean by this? Have you read other works that fit into this genre? PA: A fable is usually defined as a traditional morality tale which uses animal stories to teach a moral. At heart Chinese Whiskers is a fable. Through the eyes of Tofu and Soyabean we are warned of the corruption that can result from a society experiencing fast paced change, where long-established moorings are coming undone, leaving people without a moral compass. But although it’s a fable, it’s in an updated form, set in a modern-day context. Beijing in the early 2000s was a time that witnessed a frenetic recasting of the city’s topography and also placed strenuous demands on people to come to grips with new ideas and realities. Hence I call it a “modern fable.” In the current context, anthropomorphic works tend to be considered unfashionable and commercially unviable by the publishing world. I was extraordinarily lucky in having my story accepted. But that means I haven’t come across other works that fit this genre of late which makes Chinese Whiskers quite a unique attempt. MEC: In what way is Chinese Whiskers a follow-up to Smoke and Mirrors? In your view, how do the two books fit together? PA: On the surface the two books are very different. Smoke and Mirrors was a work of non-fiction that blended reportage and memoir to tease out the divergent implications of the choices the modern Chinese and Indian states have made. It was received with some enthusiasm by China watchers, geo-strategic analysts, diplomats, journalists and the general reader with an interest in international relations. Chinese Whiskers, on the other hand, is a novel with cats in it. Many of those who enjoyed Smoke and Mirrors don’t know what to make of this, when I tell them. Cats are not serious. Cats don’t make for analytic insight. To begin with I beg to differ vis-a-vis the imputed lack of seriousness of cats. But the larger point for me is that there is in fact a logical continuity between Smoke and Mirrors and Chinese Whiskers. Several chapters in the former sought to evoke the rhythm and texture of life in Beijing at a particular moment. Themes that came up in Smoke and Mirrors included those of a sense of moral anomie in the wake of fierce materialism, corruption, the role physical architecture plays in moulding social relations. These are all themes and issues that Chinese Whiskersaddresses. But I think its appeal is wider than that of Smoke and Mirrors. It is intended for people who may be more interested in cats than China to begin with, but hopefully might end up being drawn to learn more about a country and culture they once knew little of. It also works for a broader age group, including younger readers. And hopefully it will be an entertaining diversion for the more “serious” China watchers as well. MEC: It’s become fairly common for Western reporters to write stories about the growing importance of pets as status symbols for upwardly mobile Chinese, but most of those articles focus only on dogs (here’s a recent example from the New York Times). How are attitudes about cat ownership different? PA: I think despite the surge in popularity of dogs as pets, there is a fairly mainstream attitude in China that persists in seeing them as social pests. The (mistaken) idea that large dogs are aggressive and prone to attack people lies behind the rule in most big cities that specifies the size and breed of dog that one can own. They are also seen as a source of rabies and stories of anti-dog mob rampages resulting in the massacre of animals sporadically emerge. Cats on the other hand, with the exception of the SARS epidemic, are not seen as a public health menace and there is greater tolerance of them. Their ownership is not restricted in number and there is no cat license fee, unlike for dogs. At the same time they are not seen as a prestigious accoutrement in the manner in which some middle class people look at expensive breeds of dogs. In the hutongs if they are kept as pets it’s for utilitarian reasons; for catching rats rather than as is common with small dogs, as child substitutes. At the same time there is a sub culture of cat protection societies which are fiercely committed to feline rights and working with stray animals to house and sterilize them. There is no exact equivalent for dogs since stray dogs are so much rarer in an urban context. Differences apart, both cats and dogs share a similar and uncomfortable middle ground in China, somewhere between pet and food. While dogs are eaten in the north as a warming meal in the winter, cats are consumed quite commonly in southern China. MEC: How did your own cats react to the move from Beijing to Brussels, and do you see that experience leading to a sequel to Chinese Whiskers? PA: Our cats have taken to non-hutong life in Brussels’ stately maison de maître, as though they were born to a life of cheese and chocolates. I suppose I can envisage a sequel titled from “From Dustbin to Diplomats” detailing the transformation in their fortunes. On the other hand, life in Brussels lacks the elemental drama of hutong existence and Belgium as a whole just doesn’t compare as a setting to China at the time of SARS and the Olympics. But who knows? Intrigue in the corridors of the European Commission might just lend itself to a sequel. Tags: Chinese Whiskers, Pallavi Aiyar, Smoke and Mirrors  

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1813&amp;context=chinabeatarchive

Coming Distractions: Chinese Whiskers

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UNL | Libraries

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska