Agent of Influence [antikvár]

PrologueShanghai 1949The early morning sun seemed to scatter sequins on the surface of the water. For centuries, that was the time of day when the Chinese came to the promontory between the Huangpu and Wusong rivers to practise 'white snake stretching its tongue' and 'carrying tiger to the mountain' and 'seeing fist under elbow' and the other gentle tortures of Tai Chi.But for almost a hundred years the Chinese had been banned and the embankment made into a park reserved exclusively for foreigners. Western women found that hour the quietest time to stroll across the Garden Bridge, through the park and along the broad avenue called the Bund.Now, the European ladies with their parasols and prams were also gone. The massive Western-style buildings along the Bund were cordoned off with concertina wire and the streets were blocked with tanks and armoured cars. The glittering light on the water concealed the bobbing heads of the dead Communist and Nationalist troops whose bodies floated downstream from battles raging for control of the bridges in Kiangsu province.The besieged Nationalist Chinese authorities in Shanghai also chose that hour to lift the round-the-clock curfew1