Screen adaptation brings 1930s Beijing to life

Clad in a T-shirt, a sweater, and Converse shoes, 79-year-old Zhang Beihai seems much younger. He is energetic and alert when speaking about his novel, Xia Yin, which is now being adapted into a movie by director Jiang Wen.

"The novel fulfills the dream of a lifetime," says Zhang.

The novel was first published on the Chinese mainland in 2007, and its latest edition, together with a collection of essays about New York, was published in a new book A Taste of New York in April.