I dedicate this book to the people of China. The waiters and waitresses, the laborers on construction sites, the bartenders, cabbies and the cashiers in stores. The homeless and the beggars. The ladies who dance in the squares with loud music. The cooks, peasant farmers and pedi-cab drivers. The mothers who pull out their hair and the fathers who gnash their teeth. The barbers, the persecuted, the people standing in queues and the prostitutes. The mahjong players and the folks who run the little corner stores. The fortune tellers, buskers and shiners of shoes in parks. The bicycle repair guys, the street peddlers and the inmates in various prisons. The jacks of all trades, the delivery guys, the noodle shop folks, the street sweepers, the factory workers. The people in the markets, the faces in the crowd.