false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255664655m/6004724.jpg 6004724 1 <p><b>A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of “the Don Corleone” of Chinatown.<br></b><br>Cheng Chui Ping slipped into the United States in the early 1980s, part of a huge wave of Chinese immigrants hoping to realize the American Dream. Her path to that dream began with an underground bank for illegal immigrants run out of a noodle shop in New York City's Chinatown. She became known as Sister Ping and built a global people-smuggling conglomerate that stretched from China’s Fujian province to Africa, Europe, and South America, relying on one of Chinatown’s most violent gangs to protect her power and profits. <br><br>Sister Ping’s empire came to light in 1993, when a ship loaded with 300 near-starving immigrants ran aground off Queens. It took New York’s fabled “Jade Squad” and the FBI nearly ten years to untangle the criminal network and home in on its mastermind. Sister Ping—finally convicted in 2005—is currently in prison. Before her capture she amassed an estimated mind-boggling $40 million. <br><br>THE SNAKEHEAD is a panoramic tale of international intrigue and an inside look at a remarkably successful illegal enterprise and the undocumented immigrants who both fear and depend on it. It is a story about the conflicted issue of immigration in the United States, and a moving exploration of what it means to be—and to become—American.</p> 6179663 14 7 2009 The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream total:54|5:16|4:26|3:12|2:0|1:0| 54 220 256 25 5 0 false false Tue Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 00:44:44 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 01:00:10 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 11:44:27 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 11:50:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 4 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 13:54:33 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 13:55:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 16:49:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 13:16:53 -0700 2009 The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, an enjoyable and generally more lighthearted look at Chinese food...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Oct 03 07:13:08 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 08:15:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 21:03:40 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 11:56:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Oct 21 11:15:54 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 03 07:51:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Aug 06 21:25:18 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 10:34:01 -0700 2009 I heard the author on NPR one day. I've had hit-or-miss luck with NPR books. Loved "My Life in France" and didn't really like "Lark and Termite". But since I spend half of my time in Fujian province and grew up in New York City, I figured this had to b...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 21:29:32 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 21:43:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 10:37:03 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 09:09:17 -0700 2009 will never think of Chinatown, NYC the same again

has a great deal of information about smuggling Chinese into USA- the current charge to be smuggled into USA from China - $70,000 and the trip is dangerous lon...more...]]> 4 0 false true Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 18 08:02:23 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 10 11:37:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 19:53:37 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 20:03:49 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 12:32:30 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 10:56:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Aug 07 11:39:52 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 11:42:48 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 06 01:20:24 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 07:58:31 -0700 2009
The narrator's voice is not as beautiful as some professionals', but it gets the job done. ]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 08 13:45:29 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 13:46:02 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 13:22:38 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 06:57:03 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 16:54:31 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 16:55:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 29 05:37:32 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 05:37:43 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 07 04:56:35 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 04:56:52 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6004724