This is common amusement for the men of Tai’an. Usually a crowd is gathered.

“Outside I saw a long red line of contiguous courtyards. They were affixed to a drab contemporary apartment block, making them even more striking: an explosion of red brick and verdant vines, of character and history. Inside the courtyards, elderly women chatted on stools or tended small gardens. The courtyards looked like pieces of the village, a part of the old...

“I noticed something else as I watched them play happily. Things were a little different this time. There was one boy from Katherine’s class, and two older girls plus Grace, but Katherine was clearly in charge. She was running the entire operation in rapid-fire Chinese, directing the group to run under the trees, around the bamboo grove, through the circle door,...