What would Alice in Wonderland have looked like in China? First off, I think Chinese lifestyle is much more suited to the tone of the novel. In China, people live their lives with less predetermination than we do (so, at least it seems to me. In case I'm offending anyone, sure wasn't intended). It starts with buying stuff. You haggle. There are no fixed prices for anything, and agreeing on a price can take long. Then, there are meetings and appointments. All much more loosely than in the West, I can tell you. Any plans you try to make in China had better come with a Plan B in case things don't work out quite the way you expect them to (because they usually won't).
So, no straight lines, at least not such as a Westerner could easily follow. Oh yeah, and although people generally act friendly, they don't always mean it. Like that one lady who kept charging Westerners more for water, especially if they didn't know any Chinese. (I could call her the evil Water Witch and write a story containing wells, but that is for another time.)
So, a Chinese Alice, probably would have been less astounded by what one finds Down the Rabbit Hole, dressed in more silk, heavily embroidered. The Caterpillar might have been a dragon, unhatched as of yet, and the endearing Cheshire Cat would have been a tiger of course.
I explored this different Wonderland that is, for all its differences, no less wondrous than what we already know, in this little poem. Brew some tea, read, enjoy, and do not forget to take a close look at those tea leaves!
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