Cheng Naishan captivates her readers with stories about the livs of the Shanghai capitalists who have weathered thirty years of political vicissitudes,as well as the lives and thinking of their chidren."The Blue House" is one such story describing the trumoils going through Gu Chanhui's mind when he learns that is grandfather is Gu Fuxiang,the former steel giant in Shanghai who owned the Blue house."The Poor Street"tells how a young teacher tries hard to overcome her timidity and helps the people living in a former poor street who,although well-off materially now,remain poor culturally.Through the depiction of family life and romance,Cheng Naishan skilfully brings out the life and paradoxes of Shanghai,China's largest metropolis.