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of women in China. Chang weaves through the life of her grandmother, a warlord's con-
cubine; her mother's experiences as a Communist during the Cultural Revolution; and
her own foray into Communism and life beyond. It's a moving, deeply inspiring tale and
has become something of an essential inclusion on the booklist of anyone visiting China.
Chang, Jung, and Jon Halliday. Mao: The Untold Story, New York: Anchor, 2006. This
tome of a book takes the reader step by detailed step through Mao's life, from childhood
to his rise to power in Beijing as Beijing's supreme leader, and through the Long March,
the Great Leap Forward, and beyond. It's a condemning work that vilifies the leader, and
some argue it should be read with moderate acceptance. Regardless, it is a provoking
account of the man whose body still lies enshrined in the center of the city and whose
portrait still hangs in glorious color at the entrance to the Forbidden City.
Ellis, Yi S., and Bryan D. Ellis. 101 Stories for Foreigners to Understand Chinese People.
Shenyang: Liaoning Education Press, 2007. If you want to know how to develop better
relationships with your Chinese friends, start by bringing your Chinese etiquette up to
scratch. This interesting and easy-to-read book takes you step by step through many cul-
tural behaviors that are still relevant today, whether you are in Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong
Kong.
FICTION
Chan, Koonchung. The Fat Years: A Novel. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2012. Banned in
China, this futuristic and disturbing novel takes a hard look into a future China, and in
doing so gives an honest perspective of the country today. Taking Beijing as its primary
setting, this dystopian story is something of a Chinese Brave New World and looks at a
country on the verge of world domination and which seems to have forgotten the lessons
of its past.
Guo, Xiaolu. Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2008.
This is an amusing story of a young Chinese woman's life as a film extra in Beijing.
Like many others from around China, 21-year-old Wang Fenfang has left her impover-
ished peasant village and traveled to the capital in search of fame and fortune. She isn't
ready for what awaits her in post-Cultural Revolution Beijing—a Communist city that
is scrambling on shaky legs to modernize, nosy judgmental neighbors, corruption, and
cockroaches.
Ha Jin. The Crazed. New York: Vintage, 2004. Student Jian Wan is given the task of looking
after his professor, who has had a brain injury, and as the professor's outbursts reveal
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