false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223643899m/146335.jpg 146335 8 Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at the height of the Cultural Revolution. A true believer--and one of only two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University--her education included wielding a pneumatic drill at the Number One Machine Tool Factory. In the name of the Revolution, she renounced rock & roll, hauled pig manure in the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the United States. She also met and married the only American draft dodger from the Vietnam War to seek asylum in China.<br><br><i>Red China Blues</i> is Wong's startling--and ironic--memoir of her rocky six-year romance with Maoism (which crumbled as she became aware of the harsh realities of Chinese communism); her dramatic firsthand account of the devastating Tiananmen Square uprising; and her engaging portrait of the individuals and events she covered as a correspondent in China during the tumultuous era of capitalist reform under Deng Xiaoping. In a frank, captivating, deeply personal narrative she relates the horrors that led to her disillusionment with the "worker's paradise." And through the stories of the people--an unhappy young woman who was sold into marriage, China's most famous dissident, a doctor who lengthens penises--Wong reveals long-hidden dimensions of the world's most populous nation.<br><br>In setting out to show readers in the Western world what life is like in China, and why we should care, she reacquaints herself with the old friends--and enemies of her radical past, and comes to terms with the legacy of her ancestral homeland. 1494196 1996 Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now total:395|5:121|4:197|3:66|2:10|1:1| 395 1612 546 80 5 6 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Sun Feb 10 02:15:16 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 04:57:04 -0800 2008 Wild Swans as a student and being so utterly depressed afterwards that I seriously wondered if I really wanted to go on learning Chinese and becoming a sinologist. And then I went to China and realised...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 15 22:16:01 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 18:01:06 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Sun May 13 11:57:59 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 12:07:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Oct 16 19:32:49 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 19:33:54 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Sat Nov 29 13:11:37 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 13:21:04 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 10:42:22 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 10:51:15 -0800 2008 The Tienanmen Massacre description, by itself makes for a gripping story. Jan Wong is reporting from the balcony above the Square. The brutality is a...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 07 19:36:36 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 19:36:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jun 26 18:13:40 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 18:14:52 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 27 13:15:44 -0800 2008 Wed Jun 25 20:18:22 -0700 2008
While in China, the author insist that she perform manual labor (haul pig manure) like the rest of the Chinese people in order to cleanse her of her western thoughts. ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Fri Dec 26 10:27:09 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 10:27:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 19 18:42:49 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 18:45:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 17 18:50:49 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 18:50:49 -0700 2009
Her stories are spooky at times--just the mentality of people and how people act--and the way her own attitudes change is very showing of what might hav...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Nov 21 09:21:22 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 09:21:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Oct 27 03:47:55 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 27 20:09:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 10:04:27 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 10:04:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 03 07:38:46 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 03 07:43:47 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Oct 08 07:22:58 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 22 12:06:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 28 08:20:47 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 28 08:22:11 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Apr 28 07:04:01 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 20 03:03:12 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 28 06:59:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Sep 17 13:10:14 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 13:10:14 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=146335