A day, a night, a weekend: your life is turned upside-down, your routines scrambled.  School is closed by government order. 

Typhoons are like peculiar and demanding relatives who call at odd times: ‘I’m arriving at midnight on Thursday!  Don’t worry I can stay on the couch!  I can’t eat pork.  Or oranges.  In fact I can’t eat anything orange.  Do you have Winky’s number?  Bye!’

‘Unsavory Elements’ editor Tom Carter talks to aspiring novelist Susie Gordon in her debut public interview on Shanghai’s expatriate scene, writing fiction versus non-fiction, and partying with China’s nouveau riche.