false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173641515m/310706.jpg 310706 7 Due to a mix-up, Oliver August stumbles onto the hunt for China’s most wanted man, Lai Changxing, an illiterate tycoon on the run from corruption charges. Sensing something emblematic in this outsized tale of rise and fall, August sets out to find the self-made billionaire, in the hope that if he can understand how Lai reinvented himself, he will also better understand the tectonic forces transforming modern China. Lai Changxing is a Chinese businessman who has been described by the official Xinhua news agency as “China’s most wanted fugitive”. He fled to Canada in 1999 with his wife Zeng Mingna and their children. He was recently been denied refugee status in Canada. China accuses him of smuggling and seeks his deportation. Lai embodies the story of China’s recent success as well as its Achilles’ heel: the blending of its command economy with the free market is riddled with corruption. Moving ever closer to the elusive tycoon, August introduces us to a people in the midst of head-spinning self-transformation. We meet a nightclub hostess and her gaggle of “Miss Temporaries”; powerful businessmen on a debt-settling round of nocturnal golf; and a foie gras king who markets his goose liver by the ton and prefers it deep fried. This is a China seething with desire, engaged in a slap-stick fight with its past, and hell bent on the future. Inside the Red Mansion is the first book to capture the giddy vibe of contemporary China and its darker vulnerabilities. 301642 18 7 2007 Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man total:36|5:4|4:14|3:12|2:6| 36 124 60 10 3 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 08 11:30:21 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 13:36:14 -0700 2007 the times) as he investigates the spectacular rags-to-riches rise and fall of lai changxing, a former farmer who made billions smuggling various goods like cars into mainland...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Feb 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 11:56:57 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 06:56:39 -0800 2009
In 1999, shortly after arriving in Beijing as The T...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 19 10:04:35 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 16:34:53 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 17:39:06 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 10:18:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jul 20 16:40:18 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 17 18:41:15 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 21:03:56 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 21:03:56 -0700 2007 Oliver August in this month's <a href="http://www.wired.com>Wired maganizine</a> about web-censorship in China.
Inside the Red Mansion is more a story about China's rocky political transformation than it is about Lai, the fugi...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 00:29:41 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 09:47:12 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Oct 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 07:13:44 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 13:38:40 -0700 2008 2 0 true false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 07:41:44 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 07:43:01 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Jul 17 10:37:53 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 10:39:03 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 25 21:47:24 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 21:47:33 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Sep 15 20:01:20 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 15 20:01:20 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Sep 10 04:58:51 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 04:59:05 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Aug 11 19:03:02 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 19:03:02 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jul 05 06:07:50 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 06:07:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jun 21 09:05:54 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 09:05:54 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jun 19 20:59:49 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 21:01:56 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 12 12:31:16 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 12:31:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 24 08:25:56 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 08:26:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 03 17:47:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 17:47:00 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=310706