It is the early nineteenth century. The British East India Company has been bringing in Chinese indentured labourers to work in the tea gardens of Assam. Amidst days of misery and toil, they slowly begin to find contentment in their day-to-day lives.Descended from the slave Ho Han, Mei Lin lives a life of satisfaction with her husband Pulok Barua. But in 1962, as war breaks out in the high Himalayas between India and China, a close family member conspires to have Mei Lin deported to Maoist China. She and thousands of other Chinese Indians will now have to fend for themselves in a land that, despite their origins, is strangely foreign. From the horror-ridden hardships of the labour pens of Assam to the Sino-Indian war, this searing novel tells the unforgettable story of the Chinese Indians, a community condemned by intolerance to obscurity and untold sorrow.Reviews:'A moving saga about a terrible injustice wrought upon a group of blameless people ... Rita Chowdhury is an energetic and empathetic storyteller'AMITAV GHOSH'This masterful saga recounts the tragic history of the Chinese community in Assam and West Bengal ... an intense and compelling narrative that explores migration, iddentity, and the cruel boundaries of narrow chauvinism'NAMITA GOKHALE'Rita Chowdhury's gripping story of the Chinese community is Upper Assam gives the insider version of the events of 1962. It is a history that has rarely been told before ... and how beautifully Rita tells it'EASTERINE KIRE'An important book ... Chinatown Days weaves its careful magic across borders and communities, relocating within history our humanity'JANICE PARIAT

It is the early nineteenth century. The British East India Company has been bringing in Chinese indentured labourers to work in the tea gardens of Assam. Amidst days of misery and toil, they slowly begin to find contentment in their day-to-day lives.Descended from the slave Ho Han, Mei Lin lives a life of satisfaction with her husband Pulok Barua. But in 1962, as war breaks out in the high Himalayas between India and China, a close family member conspires to have Mei Lin deported to Maoist China. She and thousands of other Chinese Indians will now have to fend for...  Read More