At the Police Café: China in Twelve Scenes

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10.15.2026

For the first time in China’s history, life is convenient. As many are traveling for fun as searching for work, and the countryside has collapsed into the city. Instead of struggling to put food on the table, the population is getting high on capsaicin in spicy hotpot restaurants. They indulge in Western classical music in state-of-the-art concert halls. They flock to libraries and museums that are architectural marvels, coffeehouses to pose for fashion photos, and meticulously constructed “ancient” towns (built from scratch) of equal interest to genuine historical sites. But with prosperity comes an illusory self-sufficiency. The irony is that China risks reverting to its insular roots and becoming increasingly closed and cut off from the rest of the world.

A resident of the country for over three decades, Isham Cook provides an informed, on-the-ground analysis of social and public life in twelve domains or “scenes,” with historical flashbacks showing how China got where it is today.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: What in the world is a police café? (book only)
Chapter 1: A walk down the street
Chapter 2: A meal in a restaurant
Chapter 3: An invitation to a party
Chapter 4: A stay in a hotel
Chapter 5: A glimpse inside a school
Chapter 6: A visit to the library
Chapter 7: An immersion in a museum
Chapter 8: An afternoon in a café
Chapter 9: A journey to the hinterland
Chapter 10: A vision in a concert hall
Chapter 11: A timeslip to the glorious Qing
Chapter 12: An idyll in paradise
Works cited (book only)

Regarding the book cover: some readers have expressed concern over my “AI-generated cover.” A few points of clarification:

The cover is not AI-generated, only the image is. I note this on the verso page. Resorting to AI was not laziness; it took much reworking of the image to get it right.
For legal reasons, displaying a photo of an actual police coffee shop on the cover could be risky in China, where government emblems may not be displayed or copied for third-party uses, particularly on a book cover (I do include photos in the text).
The cartoon image of a police café is my satirical comment on the ambiguous uses of AI in China, where people are less dismissive of AI-generated art and design. The ambivalence in China toward authenticity is one of the themes of the book.
I myself am not automatically dismissive of aesthetic uses of AI, as long as the creator discloses its use and how exactly they are using it.
No part of the text of At the Police Café has been composed or edited by AI.

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Books by Isham Cook of related interest:

At the Teahouse Café: Essays from the Middle Kingdom

“As an American who has lived in China for many years, Cook provides insights into a culture that is notoriously opaque to outsiders, its intricacies and quirks revealing themselves only after significant immersion.” — Kirkus Reviews

Confucius and Opium: China Book Reviews

“Isham Cook’s erudite, snarky, and very funny meander through books by and about Western expatriates in China serves up culture clashes that rarely see print.” — Hill Gates, author of China’s Motor: A Thousand Years of Petty Capitalism

2 responses to “At the Police Café: China in Twelve Scenes”

Ray

commented on

October 17, 2026

I have to say, the AI cover art is not a good look. You have great photography in these chapters, why not use that? Writers of all people should not be using generative AI, it gives an air of low quality and laziness that your writing does not deserve.

Reply
1. Isham Cook
  
  commented on
  
  October 17, 2026
  
  Thanks for your comment, Ray. I intentionally chose a slightly cartoonish appearance on the cover that I think is appropriate for the theme of this book (for reasons I won’t go into here). Some readers have told me they like the cover, and I’m aware some may not. I had thought of using the actual photo of the Police Station Coffee but was advised I could potentially get into legal trouble in China, where such photos involving certain government entities are not allowed in certain contexts (such as a book cover). You do raise a good point about AI. I know there is an understandable mass visceral reaction against AI now, but personally I don’t believe AI must always be rejected in the arts. There are certainly creative possibilities for applying AI aesthetically, as long as the creator discloses their AI use and exactly how they are using it, as I do on the verso page regarding my book’s cover.
  
  Reply

ISHAM COOK