Don't buy this book expecting a fine and fancy piece of literature: that it ain't. Zhang Henshui was the Danielle Steel of early 20th century China, and this, one of his best known novels, has it all. Sex, suspense, intreague, betrayal...a page turner indeed.

Shanghai Express is an enjoyable if not very edifying read. Like all trashy novels, its hard not to feel guilty for the expenditure of time and money, but its foreign-ness and time frame should assauge some misgivings.

As 1930s pop literature, though, it does paint an interesting portrait of the manners and mores of its time. Ways of dressing, talking, eating, etc, present an unintentioned history.

Be advised, though, the book has absolutely nothing to do with Shanghai. It is also unrelated to the American movie of the same title.