Stranger Than Short Fiction: Enter Our Story Contest!

Have you entered our Beijing Stories contest yet? Come on, all you need to produce is 140 characters of pure prose about Beijing. We reckon everyone has at least one very short story in them, so get involved. There are even prizes for the best ones. For inspiration, we'll even share a few of the entries we've received so far.

First, a recap of the rules. Your limit is 140 characters (a few less if you're entering via Twitter or Weibo, where you'll need to add the tag #BJS (Twitter) or #BJS# (Weibo). That means there's no chance this will take you longer than a few minutes. Well, it could take you a few years if you're a real perfectionist, but on average we reckon most of you shouldn't take that long to turn out a decent piece of short, short fiction.

Other rules:

• Your stories must be about Beijing. We'll leave you to work out how much Beijing that means to you but you'll need to be able to argue your case, my friend.
• You can submit them: in the comments section of this blog post (and any subsequent Beijing Stories posts), by email, on Twitter (@thebeijinger) and on our Weibo (@the_beijinger)
• You can enter as many times as you want but you can only win one prize.
• The top three, as decided by ourselves and our friends at the Bookworm Literary Festival (BLF), will win prizes from the BLF
• The closing date for entries is midnight on March 7, 2013

Now for those samples we promised, starting with two stories by Twitter user @IesGlobal:
He landed, felt stranded, but found his way, the same day. Ate baozi (not jiaozi), met a laowai, then said "bye-bye"

A budding Beijinger belatedly arrives, boisterous and bedazzled, into a busily bustling Beijing; he's Bagou bound. Blimey...

Sinocism's Bill Bishop (@Niubi on Twitter) submitted this gem:
11pm. haircut. no scissors. police. squatting in room w 19 other men. wife. lawyer. ex wife.

Next, this triple burst of creativity from Wall Street Journal editor Carlos Tejada (@CRTejada on Twitter):
Audi A6, fender nudging my bike? Keying is inevitable, comrade, like your mistress's photos on Weibo.

He lights fireworks, squints at flare. Haze obscures Beijing's beckoning lights. He thinks, "Whoa. Metaphor"

February explosions. Fireworks, and gutter oil.

Next, three submissions to our original blog post. First, "Miodrag" gave us this story set in the Old Summer Palace:
You guys looted it, he spat. We were weak then. No, said I, I am Serbian. Where the US bombed your embassy. A cuckoo sang over Yuanmingyuan.

"Boss-Town" submitted these next two stories:
Dirt clung to their fingernails and wouldn't wash off; still they tunneled each day without fail, through clumps of soil and crowds men.

In the distance it echoes and approaches, contagious noise that lights the sky, waging war against “Nian”, the beast of peace and rest.

And finally, this from Weibo user @richard76uk:
City full of excitement, fun, opportunities, full of cultural values, city of sin and city where west meet east.

There you go, sitting there thinking "I can do better." So do better.

Photo: Wall Street International