Lao She was a major writer who would enjoy a successful career in his native China before falling foul of Mao's Cultural Revolution. In this early work, however, he drew upon his experiences a young teacher in 1920s London, recounting the efforts of the newly immigrated Mr. Ma and his son Ma Wei to establish themselves as respectable antique salesmen in the shadow of St. Pauls. The comic incomprehension and casual racism they encounter are described with a winning mixture of satire and sympathy.