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Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream
Financial Times Best Book of 2014
"Strikingly original"
The Wall Street Journal
"Gripping … Revealing … Brings China to life in a way that outlandish-but-true statistics cannot"
The Economist
"Marvelous and subtle … Engrossing … A book about money, power and whim that tells you everything you need to know about modern China."
The Spectator
In China, just because something is banned, doesn’t mean it can’t boom …
In October 2015, the Chinese Communist Party banned its 88 million members from excessive drinking, improper sexual relationships … and holding golf club memberships. But, with “the rich man’s game” about to appear in the Olympics for the first time in 112 years, they also began to spend unprecedented sums on their own national golf team.
Through the lives of three men intimately involved in China’s bizarre golf scene, award-winning journalist Dan Washburn paints an arresting portrait of a country of contradictions. A villager named Wang sees his life transformed when a top-secret golf resort springs up next to his farm — despite the building of golf courses being illegal. Western executive Martin, whose firm manages the construction of golf courses, is always looking over his shoulder for Beijing’s “golf police.” And for security guard Zhou, making it as a professional golfer could be his way into China’s new middle class.
Using the unique lens of The Forbidden Game, Washburn gleans rich insights into the politics and people of one of the most powerful and enigmatic nations on earth.
"Strikingly original"
The Wall Street Journal
"Gripping … Revealing … Brings China to life in a way that outlandish-but-true statistics cannot"
The Economist
"Marvelous and subtle … Engrossing … A book about money, power and whim that tells you everything you need to know about modern China."
The Spectator
In China, just because something is banned, doesn’t mean it can’t boom …
In October 2015, the Chinese Communist Party banned its 88 million members from excessive drinking, improper sexual relationships … and holding golf club memberships. But, with “the rich man’s game” about to appear in the Olympics for the first time in 112 years, they also began to spend unprecedented sums on their own national golf team.
Through the lives of three men intimately involved in China’s bizarre golf scene, award-winning journalist Dan Washburn paints an arresting portrait of a country of contradictions. A villager named Wang sees his life transformed when a top-secret golf resort springs up next to his farm — despite the building of golf courses being illegal. Western executive Martin, whose firm manages the construction of golf courses, is always looking over his shoulder for Beijing’s “golf police.” And for security guard Zhou, making it as a professional golfer could be his way into China’s new middle class.
Using the unique lens of The Forbidden Game, Washburn gleans rich insights into the politics and people of one of the most powerful and enigmatic nations on earth.
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2014
8 people are currently reading
447 people want to read
About the author
Dan Washburn
2 books10 followersDan Washburn is an award-winning journalist and author of
The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream
, which The Wall Street Journal called "strikingly original," The Economist called "gripping," and The Financial Times named one of the Best Books of 2014. Dan's writing has appeared in The New York Times, FT Weekend Magazine, Slate, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, The Economist, Golf World, Golf Digest, ESPN.com, The Telegraph, Quartz, CNN Money, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. His work has been featured in the anthologies Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China and Inside the Ropes: Sportswriters Get Their Game On. Dan is also the founding editor of Shanghaiist.com, one of the most widely read English-language websites about China. After almost a decade in China, he now works as Chief Content Officer at the Asia Society and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Bliss, their daughter Isabelle, and the family dogs Ozzie and Tux. Visit Dan online at danwashburn.com.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 16, 2014
This is the best kind of sports book - one that doesn't just tell you something about a sport. Rather, it offers up the rich cultural context in which the sport is played and what it means to the people who play it. Fans of quality non-fiction will appreciate the beautifully reported stories and profiles that form the narrative of this book, and make it one of the year's most compelling sports stories. Highly recommended.
November 22, 2015
Wanted to read this ahead of my trip to Shanghai to teach a summer course at Fudan University next month. A marvelous integration of the development of golf in China with China's economic transformation in general. Chinese pro golfer Zhou Xunshu sums up the gist of the book best: "I think I might be living the American Dream. It's the same in China. I'm happy, but I have bigger goals."
October 26, 2014
Speaking as someone with 20+ years on-the-ground China business experience, and as co-founder of the Gary Player Invitational in Shanghai, I can say with some authority that Dan Washburn’s book is spot on. In it he recounts the tale of three unique individuals, caught up in the whirlwind of China’s golf industry, with candor and empathy, having lived it with them. The story provides readers with a deep appreciation for the many contradictions and challenges facing real people at all levels of society in modern China. Honestly, I’ve never seen Dan hit a golf ball, but his book is a 350 yard drive.
Stewart Lee Beck, creator and author of the China Simplified book series
Stewart Lee Beck, creator and author of the China Simplified book series
September 5, 2014
The growth of golf in China, despite being banned by Mao and, more recently, having development of gold courses forbidden. Yet it's the country where most golf course development is happening. Interesting book if you want to know more about the development of China, not just gold courses. Follows the nascent pro tour (now being taken over by real pros with coaches and sponsorship) and one man's hopes to be a professional golfer. In parallel we get the story of a professional golf course developer. Worth reading.
September 26, 2014
On top of being a touching human story, "The Forbidden Game" is a also fantastic read on how China has been changing these past few decades.
This book is a window into the lives of 3 people whoses lives changed because (or thanks to ?) the chinese golf boom.
I highly recommand this book !
This book is a window into the lives of 3 people whoses lives changed because (or thanks to ?) the chinese golf boom.
I highly recommand this book !
April 6, 2015
One of a kind book charting terra nova, as a westerner, by digging beneath the surface of the bureaucratic messiness of golf course design in China and following the development of China's budding golf tour(s) and golf course complexes in Mission Hills.
January 26, 2025
The Forbidden Game is a 2014 nonfiction story about two Chinese and one American who make something of themselves on the back of the late-00s golf course boom in China
I never was super interested in golf, but like most subjects related to US-China relations, it isn't actually just about the subject being talked about. It's an investigation into what it means to be human.
The book tells the tale of a Guizhou man who goes from a farmer who doesn't even know what a golf ball is to the best golfer in all of Chongqing, a city of 31 million. As his trials are described, the writer narrates the harsh realities of rural Hainan being transformed from collectively owned farmland to privately owned golf courses. Some families bemoan getting ripped from their livelihood for the sake of profit while one man makes the most of it and opens up a restaurant with the money made from selling his land. Meanwhile, a young American gets laughed at by his peers for constructing golf courses in China only for them to come knocking on his door years later in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
These humbling stories of normal people may involve individuals from incredibly different backgrounds, but in the background is the message that change and conflict are part of the human story. A mother and father from rural Guizhou who have never known anything but the farm life may end up having less in common with their son than a Florida man who after almost dying from drunk driving, made his fortune in Asia's golf industry.
People of all countries may find themselves get stuck in a sandpit sometimes. However, that doesn't mean one can't figure out some innovative ways to win in this game called life. This is true even if you never had enough money to learn how to swing a golf club and had to watch from the bushes because you were told the pros didn't want to see your peasant face.
I never was super interested in golf, but like most subjects related to US-China relations, it isn't actually just about the subject being talked about. It's an investigation into what it means to be human.
The book tells the tale of a Guizhou man who goes from a farmer who doesn't even know what a golf ball is to the best golfer in all of Chongqing, a city of 31 million. As his trials are described, the writer narrates the harsh realities of rural Hainan being transformed from collectively owned farmland to privately owned golf courses. Some families bemoan getting ripped from their livelihood for the sake of profit while one man makes the most of it and opens up a restaurant with the money made from selling his land. Meanwhile, a young American gets laughed at by his peers for constructing golf courses in China only for them to come knocking on his door years later in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
These humbling stories of normal people may involve individuals from incredibly different backgrounds, but in the background is the message that change and conflict are part of the human story. A mother and father from rural Guizhou who have never known anything but the farm life may end up having less in common with their son than a Florida man who after almost dying from drunk driving, made his fortune in Asia's golf industry.
People of all countries may find themselves get stuck in a sandpit sometimes. However, that doesn't mean one can't figure out some innovative ways to win in this game called life. This is true even if you never had enough money to learn how to swing a golf club and had to watch from the bushes because you were told the pros didn't want to see your peasant face.
August 21, 2020
Fascinating insight into the golf industry in China.
January 9, 2022
Great insight into modern China developments.
January 11, 2024
Very interesting and well written read. I don’t particularly care about golf but it didn’t matter- the insight into China, both culturally and from a business perspective was fascinating.
July 26, 2025
An unusual and intimate glimpse of China, The Forbidden Game tells the stories of three men whose lives change forever with the golf boom of the 00s.
July 11, 2016
Really enjoyed reading this book. It's quite interesting to see how in China golf courses are still booming in spite of the directive above banning the construction of golf course. I think this book gives a first hand look into how $$$ has transformed China and also how it has affected people from the rich to the every day individual. Would be good to see golf from the perspective of the professional game. Nevertheless, a good read.
May 10, 2016
On the face of it a book about golf, but provides deep insights into Chinese culture and economy, while at the same time engrossing you with stories of real life heroes you can root for.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews