China Books

The first chapter is a bit tedious, but after that you can't put the book down. It is page turning and can be read in one sitting. You simply do not want to stop reading it.

I recommend it to everyone.

Letta in China book is a MUST read for EVERY Christian!!! No matter whatever situation you are in - this book will never fail to minister to whoever read it!!! I was very, very encouraged when I first read it and it has definitely changed my life tremendously!!!
I am going to reread this book again because it is so uplifting and encouraging and it has NEVER fail to minister to its readers!!
IT IS A MUST HAVE BOOK FOR EVERYONE!!! It is a small investment with HUGE returns!!! You will be GREATLY BLESS!!

What a wonderful book of God's faithfulness.This book change my life!
Letta testimonies of God's greatness and faithfulness will change your life.This book is for every christians that want to experience God's miracles in their life.Every missionaries must read this book.

The account of John Birch's life is a great testimony of God's power today and how God can use individuals to accomplish His will. John Birch was a Baptist from Georgia and he was killed by Communists in China where he worked for the US Army and also started missionary work. John Birch is a great role model for a Christian, and for all those who desire integrity, character, strength and honor in a man's life. In fact, this book has led me to join a Baptist church in Tennessee since John Birch was strong for the Lord and he was a good Baptist. It is so revealing and amazing to read the letters he wrote shortly before his sacrificial death. This book is heartily recommended. The only flaw about the book is that the author seems not to be a faithful Christian because he expresses belief in evolution and does not focus on John Birch's life of faith, and his relationship to the Lord's church. But the words and actions of the missionary John Birch speak louder than the author's opinions and views.

In April, 1942, the Rev. Birch, Baptist missionary, was eating supper somewhere in China, and was approached to aid the crews of the Doolittle Raiders to safety from behind enemy lines. He volunteered for military service as a chaplain at that time. He was approached by Gen. Claire Chennault of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) who had other ideas. Rev. Birch was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on July 4, 1942 and served the remainder of the war as an intelligence officer, but preached whenever he could. Ten days after the cessation of hostilities, August, 1945, by then a Captain, John Birch was brutally murdered by Chinese Communists of Mao Tse Tung's 9th Route Army.

The account of John Birch's life is a great testimony of God's power today and how God can use individuals to accomplish His will. John Birch was a Baptist from Georgia and he was killed by Communists in China where he worked for the US Army and also started missionary work. John Birch is a great role model for a Christian, and for all those who desire integrity, character, strength and honor in a man's life. In fact, this book has led me to join a Baptist church in Tennessee since John Birch was strong for the Lord and he was a good Baptist. It is so revealing and amazing to read the letters he wrote shortly before his sacrificial death. This book is heartily recommended. The only flaw about the book is that the author seems not to be a faithful Christian because he expresses belief in evolution and does not focus on John Birch's life of faith, and his relationship to the Lord's church. But the words and actions of the missionary John Birch speak louder than the author's opinions and views.

I am so glad to find these books again. I used to check them out at our local library and they looked pretty old back then (I am almost 37!). I cannot wait to share them with my little girl, I hope she enjoys them as much as I did.

The Little Pear stories are fabulous. My four year old daughter loves them and we read them over and over. They are perfect for this age and older.

These little pear stories are just good clean fun. Not many books are written like this one these days.

Little Pear is a young chineese boy. In this chapter book he has many adventures. In these adventures he learns newthings such as ice fishing and baby sitting.

Ms Melvin has written a book that most expats living in China will find familiar. Using Mao's quotes she highlights many of the trials, humor, and experiences of living and doing business in China. From being "useful" to avoiding "arrogance" a newbie to China will many useful thoughts.
Chinese have a long memory and many of today's difficulties are found in events that happened decades ago. You will also get an appreciation for Mao Thought and find it hard to decide if it is his genius or his ability to record the Chinese character that makes a study of his quotations a must.
If your company does business in China, especially if you are sitting in your nice office in the West, you need to read this book. If you are on your way to China, this is one of a half dozen books you need to read.
Other good books,
Thick Face, Black Heart,
Geography of Thought, How Asians and Westerners Think Differently
Lonely Planet China
Oracle Bones : A Journey Between China's Past and Present
Cowboys and Dragons : Shattering cultural myths to advance Chinese/American Business.
The Asian Mind Game
Get them from Amazon

Despite its title this is not a 'little' book. It brims over with insight drawn from the profound paradoxes shaping today's China. And just as his portrait still hangs in front of the Forbidden City and his body still lies in Tiananmen Square, at the heart of all China's paradoxes is Chairman Mao. What can one of the most destructive figures in history teach us about the world of 21st century business? Well because it's China a great deal. Sheila Melvin writes with genuine flair and is able to draw on her experience in 'China business', as a journalist and as an academic. She is able to bring Mao back to life and reveal to the reader his continuing influence in the radically transformed China of today.

So much more enjoyable and insightful than the majority of 'China business' books. A must for all who are engaged with China today.

Although Mao died 30 some years ago, his imprint on generations of Chinese people has survived. If we want to be successful in dealing with this emerging super power, we must try to understand the mentality of the Chinese people. There is no better subject than Mao himself because the current Chinese business and governmental leaders continue to think and practice his thoughts in their pursue of economic and political power. Sheila Melvin did a fantastic job in synthesizing contemporary Chinese history, interviews with Chinese leaders, and her own experience at American Business Council in this fun yet serious book. Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about China and her people.

This book is a great read and everything a memoir should be -- loving, warm, and often hilarious -- and Dennis Rea offers a unique perspective on an important moment in time. This will appeal to anybody looking for a great travel book or a book about music. Tiananmen Square is a touchstone in history and sets the tone of this book, as it is very much about the tension between the youth culture of China and Taiwan, learning and yearning to express itself, and the oppressive forces of the oppressive Chinese government. Rea is a great storyteller, and he tells his story with much compassion. You won't regreat picking up this book, and you won't be able to put it down!

With a total of 185 pages the book "Live at the Forbidden City" is promising a brief, yet intense contact with the underground rock scene of the 80s and 90s in China. It is keeping the promise, maybe not in the full possible intense, but with a good sense of narratorship by Dennis Rea. Giving account to his travels, studies and teaching in China (Chengdu and Taiwan), he is introducing us to the as-is situation, giving us a first step into the mentality and cultural behaviours that form the China of his time.

In a second step he opens the varient world of Chinese faces and minorities, giving account to the directions that traditional music has taken. After about 40 pages though the direction of the book is changing and turning to modern rock music after having introduced the reader to both the as-is situation and the cultural diversity.

Quick and dirty, hard and fast, Dennis Rea is noting the experiences he made during his sole concerts in Chengdu, his tour with "Identity Crisis", his tour with "The Vagaries" and his "Land" tour. He thereby concentrates on the facts and gives brief (and correct) explanations to the relationships and importance of single players and figures in the music scene. E.g. his relationship to Tang Lei and her involvement in the Chengdu music scene. Or his friends in Taiwan's jazz circles.

As he got in contact with Cui Jian the further annotation about the Chinese music scene circles around him, as Dennis Rea interwove his own tours with those of Cui Jian (sometimes by chance). Dennis Rea gives his own thoughts and explanations to certain scenes and situations and leads the reader through a country of misunderstanding, troublesome concerts and euphoric audiences.

In short: Dennis Rea is a good beginners book for those so far not involved in Chinese music, an interesting musicians autobiography (for a specific part of time, 80s to 90s) with a focus on China. If you never have had any contact with Chinese modern music and how it developed be prepared to read a well-written book that empowers you with the basics (and more) without turning into a scientic encyclopedia.

For students involved in China studies it gives a new point of view by a foreign musician into the music scene of China and of Chengdu, mixed with new facts and stories about Cui Jian and other musicians. A delightful music tour book packed with interesting experiences by jazz musician Dennis Rea. Definitely a must-read.

This book is a marvelous adventure story recounting the years that author Dennis Rea spent in China and Taiwan during the 1990s, initially and ostensibly as a teacher of English, but soon thereafter as a highly regarded musician who performed throughout China and Taiwan and became the first Westerner to record an album in China during its communist era. At the same time, it is
a firsthand account of a time of great political and social upheaval in China written from Rea's's unique vantage point. Rea writes in a highly engaging, witty style that adds to the exploits he recounts. At times gripping, such as his recounting of the uprising in Chengdu during the time of the inflamous Tiannamen Square stand-off between protesters and the Chinese military, and at other times hilarious, such as Rea's trek to an isolated region in western China, this is a book that will thoroughly satsify any armchair adventurer, as well as anyone interested in learning more about China's robust underground music scene. I highly recommend it.

Mr. Salisbury makes it quite clear where his sympathies lie in the Chinese Civil War. I find it disturbing that he expresses his political leaning in print, where he has a reputation of impartiality.

This book ignores the ugly realities that was the Long March in favor of perpetuating the myth that was one of the cornerstones of Communist China. There are other fact-based accounts of the Long March out there that will point out that--whatever your political leanings--the Long March was deadly (most of the Communist soldiers who started the March perished), the retreating Communist Army savagely oppressed the inhabitants of every region they passed through and occupied (a taste of things to come, sadly), and Mao used the March to brutally consolidate his hold over the Communist party.

This is one of the best historical documentations I have ever read. I highly recommend it to readers 21 and over.

Journalist Harrison Salisbury brings his superb style to the Long March of 1934-1935. Salisbury traveled to China in 1984 to retrace the steps of Mao's communists as they fled their bases in Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces, walking some 8,000 miles to their base up North. Readers see the harsh conditions as the troops plodded daily through the the wilderness regions of western China. They climbed mountains, crossed rivers and foraged for food, fighting off constant land and air attacks by pursuing Nationalists. Their numbers dwindled from casualties, hunger and disease, and many never reached the safety of Shaanxi Province. Readers may dislike communism but can still respect the marchers' accomplishment. One also gets a sense of how enduring poverty, plus the corruption and cruelties of the Nationalists paved the later takeover of China by the communists.

Harrison Salisbury (1908-1993) was a superb international journalist, and he writes with a keen "just the facts" objectivity. One might also enjoy several other books from this very readable author, including 900 DAYS: THE SEIGE OF LENIGRAD, MOSCOW JOURNAL, TIANAMEN DIARY, HEROES OF MY TIME, etc.

This book chronicles events that led to, during, and shortly after the Long March, which was a heroic journey that the Chinese Communist-led Red Army took in the mid-30's. The journey started as the Red Army was driven out of their base by Chiang Kai Shek's Nationalist Army and faced total defeat. The Red Army fled the Nationalist Army by walking in the remote areas of China for two years and some 7000 miles while defending themselves against the Nationalist troops that were chasing them. But at the end of the journey, the Red Army not only survived but was also strengthened and earned more popular support. The Long March is considered a key turning point in the modern Chinese history.

In this book, Salisbury combined his amazing story-telling skills with careful research and the unbiased attitude that a good reporter should possess. He interviewed generals, soldiers and ordinary citizens, collected stories related to historical events that were unknown to both Western readers AND Chinese readers. With all these materials, he tried to tell you what happened in China at that time, and why, and he succeeded. The details that Salisbury put in the book also allowed one to find out the personalities of the key players of modern Chinese history: Mao and his generals, Chiang and his generals.

Salisbury's story-telling skill is perhaps nothing new to many readers. I had great enjoyment when reading this book, I felt that I shared the emotions of the people in the book. The description of the battles was so vivid I almost felt that I was there watching.

So, if you want to know what life was like in the 1930s' China, if you want to know why Communism, an utterly unattractive idea in many people's eyes, won the support of Chinese people in the 30s', if you want to know what kind of people the Chinese Communist leaders were, or if you just want to read a good book on military history, read this one and you will not be disappointed.

Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche (1904-1989) compares human life to a fork in the road: "one route ascends to higher realms and freedom; the other descends to lower realms. We have the choice of taking the high road or the low road. To use this precious human life as a support to Dharma practice and liberation is to give it its true meaning" (p. 86). In the Foreward to this 318-page compilation of essential oral and written teachings delivered between 1968 and 1989, The Dalai Lama calls Kalu Rinpoche "a beacon of inspiration" (p. xiii). After becoming an ordained Tibetan Buddhist monk at age thirteen, Kalu Rinpoche completed a three-year lama retreat when he was sixteen (p. xv). He then became a wandering yogi when he was twenty-five, and practiced meditation in Himalayan retreats as a solitary hermit for twelve years (p. xv) before delivering his teachings to the Western world. "We must firmly resolve to use this life well," he observes, "by practicing Dharma enthusiastically during the time that remains in this life, this quick, bright moment, like the sun piercing through the clouds" (p. 88).

What HEART OF THE BUDDHA is to Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, LUMINOUS MIND is to Kalu Rinpoche. That is, LUMINIOUS MIND may be read not only as the essential teachings of Kalu Rinpoche, but as a comprehensive, yet practical introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Kalu Rinpoche demonstrates that "it is experiential knowledge that teaches us to recognize our fundamental nature and liberates us from falling prey to illusions, passions, and thoughts. This awareness grants real happiness in this life, at the time of death, and in future lives up to spiritual enlightenment" (p. 7). He not only encourages us to understand our mind through daily meditation practice, but he teaches us how, because "mind is what we are. It is what experiences happiness and suffering. Mind is what experiences different thoughts and sensations; it is what is subject to pleasant and unpleasant emotions, what experiences desire, aversion, and so forth. A real understanding of the nature of mind is liberating because it disengages us from all illusions and consequently from the source of the suffering, fears and difficulties that make up our daily life" (p. 17).

G. Merritt

There are now several books out there which present the teachings of His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche, and many of them are quite good. However, when people ask me to recommend one book, this is the one I tell them to get. This book is very well-organized, and provides a wealth of information about Tibetan Buddhism in general, and Kalu Rinpoche's lineages (Shangpa Kagyu and Karma Kagyu) in particular. The information about the Shangpa lineage is unparalleled. the book is organized so that a beginning student will not be overwhelmed, while long-time practitioners will be rewarded with a wealth of practical instructions. This book was organized by one of Rinpoche's foremost western disciples, Lama Denis Tondrup, and the notes and glossary, which I think he is resonsible for, are invaluable. If you wish to know about the different stages of the Tibetan Buddhist path, or if you feel a connection to Kalu Rinpoche but don't know much about his tradition, I cannot think of a better book to read. This is a book I return to again and again, and I always find just the right advice. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written, in the forward to this book, that Rinpoche ws a "beacon of inspiration." Reading this book, you will come to see just how radiant that beacon continues to be!

This book is a wonderful, authoritative and comprehensive account of the path of Vajrayana Buddhism, as expounded by one of the greatest teachers of the last (20th) century.

I would only add that this book is perhaps not ideal for the complete novice. The teachings are presented in a rather dry, traditional style. People without some previous exposure to Tibetan Buddhist teachings might find the material somewhat confusing. Those interested in a more easily readable introduction to this topic might first try Sogyal Rinpoche's "The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying" or Lama Surya Das' "Awakening The Buddha Within" before returning to this volume.

A very informative description of Chinese contributions, mostly in the area of science. Well written and well illustrated. Purchased for my 9 year old grand-daughter, who I hope someday will become an engineer (preferably electrical).

I read sections from Made in China to my kids as a bedtime story - they like to listen to this as much as fictional stories. Great illustrations too.

A fantastic book that shows the contributions which the Chinese over centuries have given to the world. Highly recommended! Its illustrations are culturally relevant and sensitive! Rennie Mau President, MPEC Multicultural Publishing and Education Council

With its unique combination of cartoons, photos, newspaper clippings, this is everything a graphic novel should be. It's entertaining, informative and a page turner of sorts. As the memoir progresses, you get drawn into Long Tack Sam's life and you root for him. I felt myself wishing that I had been around to catch his act.

I read this in one sitting! This was done in a journal/comic book format that was informative, fun, and made me feel that when I ended the book, I left with something special. Sam was a pioneer, and all the amazing people he met and worked with (Orson Wells, Laurel and Hardy to name a few), it's like the back of the book said, how come no one knows who this famous man is? His rufasal to compromise to the Chinese steriotype in order to enter Hollywood, and that his daughters were considered too pretty to be filmed as Asians for any Hollywood pictures , really reminds you that the 20th century really changed our views of the world and culture. This man went all over the world, married an Austrian lady, and go figure, had competition from white magicians dressing in Asian motifs and taking similar names to him! I can go on ad infinitium about how great this was, and how I came upon this by accident. I strongly recommend this book to not only magicians, but also to anyone looking for a fun and entertaining read.

I had seen Ann Marie Fleming's documentary film about her great-grandfather, Long Tack Sam, and was thrilled to see that she had also written a book about him. I was expecting the usual sort of biography, text with a couple of photo inserts. Instead, the book is a mix of text, cartoons, and photos, much in the same style as the movie. It's absolutely beautiful, and the period images (ads and posters, photos, etc) convey the style and feel of the vaudeville era which was Sam's heyday. I love to read about vaudeville but it's the images that bring those times to life for me, and this book does it wonderfully.

I loved this book so much as a kid, and now that I have children of my own, I am trying to find a copy to have and read to them. I am disappointed that it is out of print. I looked at my local library, and can't find it there. This is definitely one that should be brought back. I think it would be as famous as Green Eggs and Ham, with the proper publicity.

Being a first cousin to the author of this book, I know this story front and back. As I read the book, I could hear our grandmother singing this folk song to us. It is an ingenious way to incorporate a folksong into storybook form. It is a must have for any family. It is entertainment and education in one book. It teaches us to be thankful for what we have. "Mama, Buy Me a China Doll", is a great addition to any library.

My 6 year old daughter has brought this book home several times. Reading it gives her a great sense of accomplishment, and it's a bit different than the standard repetitive books used for emerging readers. I enjoy the lovely illustrations and don't mind hearing it over (and over...) again. I plan on purchasing a copy and keeping it with some of my very favorite children's books.