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Nuan Nuan

The Internet in China had yet to become an everyday word when Cai Zhiheng's novel about Internet love debuted ten years ago. The First Close Contact £¨µÚÒ»´ÎµÄÇ×ÃܽӴ¥£©, a romantic story about two young students falling in love via Internet chat rooms, quickly spread out across the Web. Later it became a great hit in the book market, and was adapted to a major motion picture. Cai portrayed the lives and loves of city youngsters using witty dialogues and Internet jargon. This new writing style eventually became what people now call "Internet literature."

Cai’s new book, Nuan Nuan, is another romantic story written in his characteristic witty style. This time, it is not the gap between cyber space and reality that blocks young lovers, but rather the dilemma of political confrontation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. In the novel Cai, an engineering student from Taiwan, comes to Beijing via a student exchange programme. He meets Nuan Nuan on campus. They fall in love with each other quickly. When the exchange programme is about to end, they have to make a decision: Should they go on? If yes, how?

In Chinese, the name Nuan Nuan means warmth. Readers can definitely feel the warmth of the pure young love described in the book. Also warm are the vivid descriptions of a colourful Beijing as the backdrop. In fact, the book takes you to so many tourist attractions in Beijing that it can even be used as a lovely tour guide. While reading the book, you follow the lovers as they climb the Great Wall, visit the Temple of Heaven, wander in the Summer Palace, tricycle through a hutong, and as they delight in a Beijing opera at a traditional teahouse.

The book is said to have advocated a new attitude about love for the year 2008. “For the future we don’t have any plans, or calculations,” writes the author, “but we have expectations.”

Nuan Nuan（《暖暖》）

By Cai Zhiheng（蔡智恒）

Writers?Publishing House (作家出版社) November 2007, 19.9 yuan