The changes cities undergo are an important part of the history of the development of a civilization. "In publishing the series of book the Press has been guided by one consideration -- to give readers a brief history of some well-known Chinese cities by letting them look at some old photos taken back then and read some remembrances of those cities," the postscript of the series reads.

Unlike conventional publications, each book in this series contains a large number of old photos selected to form a pictorial commentary on the text.

This enables readers to learn more details about Chinese urban history and cultural evolution in an urban society from a new perspective.

It also enables readers to re-experience the historical vicissitudes of those cities and come to a deeper understanding of urban dwellers in modern China.

To better illustrate those cities, the photos in these book go with essays written by renowned writers who have not only lived in their respective cities for a long time but who are also noted for their strong local flavor in their writing.

Either in presenting a panoramic view of a city or depicting the fate of a man on the street, their words are always natural yet full of feeling.

Essays in Old Shanghai were written by Wu Liang, those in Old Beijing by Xu Chengbei, while Jia Pingwa is responsible for the essays in Old Xi'an.

The Chinese edition of the series was first published by the Jiangsu Fine Arts Publishing House in 1998 and was a great hit as soon as it hit the streets.

The English edition was jointly published by the two presses last year.

(China Daily April 9, 2002)