Can’t recall the last time I read a play without being forced to. In fact, this may be a first for me!

I’m not at all familiar with Broadway, but I am definitely familiar with Chinglish as a “language.” Like any English-speaking foreigner who’s traveled at all in China, I’ve got my own list of mistranslated menus and signs. What’s probably worse, though, is I’ve also got my own stories of interpersonal exchanges, most of which aren’t fit to write.

Needless to say, the title of this play struck me first, so I thought I would give it a go. While it contains a number of f-bombs and even (implied) sex scenes, I kept with it, because the story was engaging, the situations were comical, and the cultural challenges being mined were priceless. This thing was spot-on life in China!

The story follows an American businessman named Daniel whose background with Enron has made it very difficult for him to continue his work in the States. He figures he can sweep his history under the rug and make a clean start in China as a long-time family business fixing signs with bad translations for the culture department in GuiYang. With the help of a British expat named Peter, Daniel (who knows zero Chinese) must now weasel his way into a contract with the Chinese that will help him restart his life. Along the way, he meets a Chinese woman in the culture department named Xi with whom he begins a relationship…and ends a few more.

There were a few moments in this book where I laughed aloud, which is something I simply never do, especially during the cross-language interviews. The translators’ work was amazing, and I felt like I was right back at home in China. The addition of an unskilled, untrained, single-white-male “Consultant” who comes off as a high-roller in China was amazing. How many of those guys have I met over the years? Peter is definitely an Everyman.

The book contains Traditional Chinese characters, Mandarin pinyin, and English translations whenever Chinese is spoken, and is otherwise English throughout. People watching you read it my think you’re reading Chinese, so there’s the added benefit of that. I had a hard time with the Traditional characters, but I do have an excuse: I’m American.

This story was a lot of fun and tremendously insightful, though as mentioned above, a bit rough at times. Not for kids, but if you’re ever looking to do business in China, you’d do well to take some hints from Ch’ing•lish.

©2022 E.T.