Travel writer Michael Meyer will give a talk on his book The Last Days of Old Beijing and his latest book In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland. The first book covers "daily life in the capital’s oldest neighbourhood during preparation for the 2008 Olympics", and the second "tells the story of a north-eastern rice-growing village as it turns its land over to a corporate agribusiness". The event happens at Glam, part of the Shanghai International Literary Festival, and starts at 3pm on November 1. Tickets are 75rmb.