Rice Ticket
Ged Neary

A campus novel set in Beijing and Wuhan, Rice Ticket looks at some of the present-day cultural, social, linguistic, and personal issues at play when foreigners and locals work together in an academic setting.

It tells the story of Belinda Zhang, an attractive though occasionally violent woman in her early forties, her belief in a Foreign Expert's promise to be her “rice ticket” and help her escape to a better life overseas, and the consequence of him switching his affection to a young girl from the countryside.

An extract:

"So you only have a daughter?"
Chinley automatically mumbled a reply to Wang's question without reflecting on its implications, because his attention was focused in astonishment on the man's wife. She had transformed her appearance yet again: her face was now daubed with pale powdery make-up, around a slash of scarlet lips, and her previously heavy eyebrows had become thin black arcs, like brush-strokes of Chinese ink.
"No sons yet then?" continued Wang.
"No. What? "

Chinley had met Wang and his wife by chance on the main campus boulevard, and they were now walking slowly in the general direction of the Foreign Experts’ guest house, which was still some distance away.

"Where is Mrs Chinley these days, Professor? Your wife? In England, I suppose?" asked Wang's wife.
"Yes, she's in England." Don't pretend you don't know, Chinley said to himself.
"And you say he will not be coming out here?" asked Wang.
"What?"
"Is he coming out here or not?"
"Who?"
"Your wife. Is he coming out here? To China?"
"He?"
"Yes."

Chinley said nothing, wondering if Wang was doing this on purpose, for some reason, to irritate him. Perhaps there was something in his file about his temper. Anyway, he didn’t want to lecture the man on the correct use of English pronouns; he had done enough lecturing for the day. So instead, he decided to prolong the absurdity.
"He may or may not be coming. Probably not."
"He?" said Wang.
Chinley looked sideways at the wide spread of the equine teeth, but in the man's eyes he saw only an expression of innocence.

*** *** ***

Through the story, Rice Ticket highlights codes of conduct between foreigner and local, contrasting customs, linguistic pitfalls, the half-understood ambition on either side, the often-misunderstood body language (and the consequence of this misunderstanding), the often one-sided humour, mutually confusing behaviour, male/ female relationships, the real or imagined surveillance, and the role of the “foreign expert”.

Ged Neary has been working in China over the past 12 years, for the British Council and the Chinese Ministry of Education, training teachers of English, mainly in Chong Qing and the provinces of Hubei and Sichuan. He has written for UK theatre and BBC radio, and Rice Ticket is his third published book.

He’s now based in Manchester, and helping with a Chinese performing arts organization called China Here And There. For details of their arts and literature activities, please see the website at: www.chinahereandthere.com where the first chapter of Rice Ticket is also available for reading.

Rice Ticket is published by Paul Mould Publishing (pmp@talktalk.net) at £12 (including UK postage, overseas on request)