Set in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War, this story by Eileen Chang takes place in a stalled tram during a city-wide military shutdown. An unhappily married accountant sits next to a single university instructor and strikes up a conversation with her. It begins awkwardly but, as they share their frustrations and disappointments with life, a romantic bond develops. The connection breaks when the man changes seats as the tram begins to move, and both return to their previous unfulfilling routines. Themes include social class, tradition (gender dynamics), urban loneliness and monotony, escape, love vs. the attractiveness of change.
