Back cover text:

This collection of poems eloquently captures the contradictions and multiple identities of modern China. Liz Niven has a keen eye for detail and a light touch that delivers an unexpected intensity. Taking on ancient traditions and contemporary issues, this selection is in turn humorous and poignant and illustrates China as it is rarely seen. From the intimacy of the tea ceremony to the lives of the migrant workers in Beijing, nothing is as you would expect.

Reviews:

These are not travel poems; they are 'Chinese' poems with a very strong Scottish accent - humorous, sympathetic, enlightening and involved. They demonstrate how valuable the reflective nature of poetry can be in engaging with another culture.   Tom Pow

I loved Bei Dao in Scots! These early poems seem to work especially well.   Eliot Weinberger

Her poetry combines the lilting notes of Scottish bagpipes with the earthy regional cadence of the language.   China Daily

A fine poet with an excellent ear for the Scots language.   Ron Butlin

There is fine writing in The Shard Box, crafted with vision, warmth and shafts of devastating insight.   Janet Paisley