Chinese Books

I fully concur with the preceding reviews.I have been a student of China since the US Air Force assigned me to Taiwan in 1957-58 following completion of language training. Of the many books about China I have read over the years this has to be the most compelling. I could not put it down and was disappointed when it ended. I wanted more!

Ambassador Ji Chaozhu's personal journey in the Chinese Foreign Ministry provides vivid and rich details for our understanding of the inner working of Chinese foreign policy-making establishment. From this book, we learn not only real stories of top leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping, but also personal relations between Ambassador Ji and other senior PRC diplomats such as Huang Zhen, Han Xu, Zhang Wenjin, Nancy Tang and Wang Hairong, and etc. This book is a major addition to the growing literature on PRC diplomacy, and will become an essential reading for any one interested in 20th century China, especially its diplomacy.

A good relationship between China and America is crucial for the future of the world. Period. Therefore, learning the history of recent Chinese politics and the historical relationship between China and America should be mandatory for all Americans, young and old. And what better way to start learning than by reading this very entertaining factual book. This book, written by an interpreter for various high-ranking Chinese officials during the Mao era, is a must-read for those who want an insiders view into the momentous events that occurred in China from the 1950's through recent times. The author is humorous, occassionally self-depreciating, and brutally honest in all he recalls about the great historical events he witnessed close-up in China. Riveting and memorable are two words I can use to describe this book. After reading it, I have a better understanding of what was going on in China when China was "closed" from 1949 to 1976. And, I have a desire to read more from the author. I sincerely hope China and America can grow old together, clean up the environment and always be friends. Nothing less than the future of our planet depends upon it.

For the past 20 years, I've read almost anything I can get my hands
on about China. Out of the novels, biographies and numerous
autobiographies, I always considered "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang
to be at the top of my list. Now its time for that amazing memoir to move over. "The Man on Mao's Right" is my new favorite book on the subject of China. It takes a culture so huge in dimension and makes it personal and more importantly, relevant.

Read this book if you want to understand the foreign policy of the Peoples Republic of China, or want guidance from an expert on how to keep your sanity and morality in a bureaucracy, or if you just want a very good story.

In the fall of 1950, at the age of 21, Ji Chaozhu returned to his native China after an absence of 12 years. He left a comfortable middle class life as a Harvard undergraduate scholarship student at a time of increasingly virulent anti-communism in this country. China was on the verge of a shooting war with the USA in Korea, and he literally stepped through the looking glass into an upside down world of opposites. In China it was politically dangerous even to be suspected of intellectual or bourgeois tendencies; membership in the Communist Party was a privilege which it took him years to achieve; to fight against the USA backed forces in Korea was a patriotic duty for which he quickly volunteered. On a more personal level, Chaozhu had to relearn his first language, get used to a new and substantially reduced diet, and - perhaps most difficult of all - adapt to the use of a traditional "squat" toilet.

This is the story of his 50 year odyssey through the hierarchy of the Chinese Foreign Ministry from lowly translator at Panmunjom to Ambassador to the Court of St. James and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations. His original intention when he returned home was to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry and help China to develop an atomic bomb, but his knowledge of English and American culture was a rare commodity in China at that time and proved much more valuable to the Government, so he parlayed that skill along with his good humor and good sense into a career working steadfastly towards the goal of establishing peace and cooperation between China and the USA.

Along the way there were many twists and turns - tragic, exasperating, comical and unhealthy. He spent several long periods living away from his family working on farms in the country standing up to his knees in cold mud leaning over to plant rice seedlings, or carrying human waste to the fields in buckets to fertilize the crops. These stints were supposed to correct his bourgeois tendencies and help him identify with the peasants. He survived cold, heat, fleas, hunger, unsanitary conditions and primitive plumbing, but even more challenging were the internal politics and ideological twists and turns of programs like the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. He gained the confidence and protection of Premier Zhou Enlai, whom he served as translator on many important missions, on occasion being hurriedly summoned from the farm and appearing with manure still under his fingernails.

Ideologues on both the left and the right will find much to quibble about in this book. I may have on occasions been guilty of the former tendency and feel uncomfortable about Chaozhu's admiration for and continuing friendship with Henry Kissinger, but I cannot argue with his results. It appears that this relationship was critical to establishing normal and peaceful relations between the USA and China.

When Chaozhu dropped out of Harvard to return home, he left behind a small group of politically sympathetic classmates of whom I was one. To indulge in a little self-criticism, when I discovered that he had left I was guilty of two self-centered feelings: jealousy that he was going home to work for a real revolution and a dense of betrayal that he had gone off and left us to face the excesses of McCarthyism without him. Over the years I heard bits of news and rumors about his career, thought about him often, and wondered what his life was like. Now I know. When I finally picked up this book 58 years later, I couldn't put it down; I read it in one sitting.

This book is really fun and easy to read. One of my favorite books by far. It carries so much truth in it that I can just relate to straight away. Yes, it has changed how I `look' at others as I tend to observe the facial features of people that I deal with on a daily basis - but I have to say it has brought about some good and rewarding changes. For example, did you know that people with bigger eyes are more sincere and more expressive, while those with smaller eyes tend to have more secrets as they keep things inside of them? You'll find a lot more of these interesting pointers in this book.

I find reading this book that the accuracy of the Chinese face reading is so dead on it's unbelievable. Amazing! The book is extremely helpful and easy to make me understand people better without them knowing that I am trying to do so. Also the chronology of the book is quite methodical, making it a fun and easy read compared to the other Joey books. However I wished there was an index at the back for quick reference to particular topics I was looking for.

This is so much fun! Ever since I started reading it, I have been trying it out at work.

This subject is new to me. I usually buy a bunch of books and everytime I decide to pick up something new. This was by far the best. The design is beautiful, the descriptions are clear and the explaination of the techniques are really good. And unlike many books, they actually go into some detail into the hows and whys. I never knew Face Reading is so deep! And to see the connection between other forms of traditional Chinese practices, it is quite astounding.

The author did a really good job. Keep up the good work!

I have read quite a few books on Face Reading but nothing comes close to this level of detail and practical usability. Joey explains it so well and the illustrations are really good. The book well organized. It is not an easy subject but Joey makes it so easy to understand without making it so simple that it loses its power.

I have used what I learnt already. It really helps me in my day to day life as I deal with so many people. Joey's techniques are so practical.

I have all of Joey's books! So far, I have never been disappointed with any of his works. I look forward to the next installment of Face Reading!

This is the first time I picked up a book on Chinese face reading. I was very impressed. It is well written and easy to follow. There is a system to understand and apply this art and the author does a good job of explaining this.

I have read a few books on face reading from the States but so far, nothing comes close to this. The illustrations are also very well done.

The 100 Year map is amazing! I thought that was one of the most impressive things I learnt in this book. I cannot wait for book two.

It is important to note that this excellent book by John B. Stuttard, former Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China, carries amazing wisdom within that remains as true today about China as when it was written, all the way back in 2000. The outlined principles and shared experiences about Mainland China are timeless. So readers concerned that books written even a few years ago about China will quickly become out-of-date, in this case absolutely need not worry. In fact, I have read this book several times over the years and it was the single biggest source of inspiration for the book I co-authored about China, Know China Business: The Insider's Guide to Doing Business Successfully in China.

There are a number of case studies shared in this book that are written by CEOs and other top-level executives from some of the most well reputed multinational companies (MNCs) active in China. The level of honestly about their personal China experiences expressed by these top executives is truly astounding and not to be found in any other book I have read about China, while the lessons learned can also be applied immediately by any Western business person operating in the Middle Kingdom, whether they are a novice or old China hand. I am eager to read the more recently written Operation China: From Strategy to Execution by top China executives from consulting competitor McKinsey. However, I would be extremely surprised if the information gleaned from within could match the wisdom shared by Stuttard in The New Silk Road.

Some readers will already be familiar with Tim Clissold's cautionary tale, "Mr. China," about the difficulty of doing business in China. But, "The New Silk Road," offers a very different perspective and different kind of cautionary tale about the "early" days of doing business in China in the mid-to-late Nineties.
Whereas Fishman focuses on his more "entrepreneurial" efforts to revamp factories and set up new industries in the Chinese countryside, Stuttard, as a consultant for PriceWaterhouse, offers a more "professional" perspective. Thus, each chapter is much less autobiographical than Clissold's book, being organized around individual case studies, focusing on the major companies (AIG, Unilever, Bayer, etc.) trying to create a foothold in a hot economy.
Stuttard's overriding theme and question is: Why do senior managers with 20 years of success in the States fail so badly in China?
The answers range from lack of support at the head office, political barriers, confusion about the nature of legal contracts in China, to overblown expectations on the part of the Type A manager.
For a complete perspective on doing business in China, I believe that "The New Silk Road" should be read in tandem with "Mr. China."
With this book, Stuttard has done hopeful managers in China an incredible service.

Almost everyone who knows little about China is enthralled by the opportunity to sell products to all those people who live there. Those with a little more knowledge also get excited about having products made for export from Mainland China. Those with still more knowledge look forward to outsourcing services to China. Beyond that, some speculate that Mandarin Chinese will even become the dominant language of the Internet, and see amazing opportunities to buuild new economy businesses from a Chinese base.

But those speculations all beg the question: What should your company be doing today?

The New Silk Road is the first book I have read that reflects the views of my friends who have 20 plus years of experience doing business there. As such, it counters much of the overoptimism that makes American companies too anxious to expand there, and leads to mistakes that hurt short and long term results.

Any company that is considering its first stake in China, or re-evaluating the stakes it has today, should be sure that those involved read this book.

The key lessons are that company goals must be more carefully considered, partners chosen more thoughtfully, expectations of near-term profits lowered, a focus shifted to developing Chinese management and workers, and a longer-term perspective taken on developing and maintaining relationships. Perhaps the most fundamental point of the book is that things are very uncertain in China. With lots of effort you can reduce the uncertainty, but it will still be higher than in almost any other country. So there will be a premium placed on making decisions that will be good ones regardless of what happens in the Chinese business environment.

When you do your homework, you will find that China has more competition than almost any other country and lots of excess capacity. A small percentage of the people can afford to buy what you want to sell. Regulation and bureaucracy will keep you out of the best markets for what you want to do. The rules will change tomorrow. Everything will take a long time. Political tensions among your home nation and China will be used against you in business. Sounds challenging, doesn't it?

While China is underdeveloped economically and in entrepreneurial and business skills, the people are well educated and know a lot of things you do not. For one thing, they know the many different markets in China and how to do business there. They have local connections that you need. They also have skills in negotiation and strategy that you may not have. So seek out how to make the best of both worlds, rather than just plan to do business like you do in your home country. In fact, your product will probably have to be customized for the Chinese market.

Mr. Stuttard does an excellent job in his essay, "Reflections on China at the End of the Second Millennium," of summarizing the lessons from the case histories. Be sure to reread this essay after you finish the book. It will help put the case histories in perspective for you.

He has done well in choosing a variety of case histories, that reflect varying levels of success. The book is especially lucky to have the perspectives of comapnies with a great deal of Chinese experience like American International Group, John Swire, United Technologies, and Shell. In each case, either the company's CEO or the operating head in China is the person interviewed.

The people who run the business in China for you will be very vulnerable. When unpredictable shifts cause results to fall, their heads will be on the chopping block in some companies. That's not a good idea, because the set-backs will often not be due to any fault of their own.

You will also get helpful hints on the best ways to recruit talent, conduct training, and integrate expatriates.

After you have finished reading and enjoying this valuable book, I suggest that also consider where else the lessons of this book apply. I suspect that your success in many other parts of the world would be enhanced if you employed these lessons there, as well. Also, how else can you overcome communications stalls among your various operations and with your various stakeholders?

Focus on what needs to be done now to develop your short and long term potential!

China has made such enormous strides towards liberalising its economy over the past decade that it is now the world's second largest recipient of foreign investment after the United States. Yet, in some very important ways, Chinese customs, practices, and values remain alien to Western business thinking and practice as they ever were. As many a hapless expatriate manager has discovered to their cost, gaining a foothold in the vast Chinese market can be an uphill battle on a slippery slope of tradition, conflicting objectives, bureaucratic wrangling, ever-shifting laws and regulations, and regional differences. Despite this, as the stories chronicled in this insider's guide to doing business in China demonstrate, it is a battle that can be and is being won.

The New Silk Road is based on extensive interviews conducted by the author with business leaders who have many years of experience with the country. It features a series of lively narratives in which these experts share their insights into and observations of all the important aspects of doing business in China. These are important lessons they've learned about everything from making sense of, and marketing to, the patchwork of striking different regions that make up China, to building trust and negotiating with the Chinese.

This long-awaited insider's view of doing business in China informs you of the pitfalls and tells you what you need to know to succeed in the twenty-first century's great new business frontier.

John B. Stuttard is a Senior Partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 1994 to 1999, he was Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China, operating in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dalian. In his 32-year career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, he has also worked with the UK Government's Cabinet Office think tank advising on privatisation, and for services to Finnish industry was made a Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland.

See also my review of: CHINA'S FUTURES Scenarios for the World's Fasting Growing Economy, Ecology, and Society James Ogilvy & Peter Schwartz with Joe Flower Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2000 ISBN 0-7879-5200-1

This short book consists of the reflections of John B. Stuttard, former Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China (1994-1999), and summaries of his interviews with 11 top executives working in Western companies in China. Each interview runs 8-10 pages and includes a short bio of the exec along with a quick snapshot of the company's current Sino-standing. The first chapter is Stuttard's and is a fine read that perfectly sets the context and perspective of the 21st century business environment in the country destined to one day overtake America as the world's single largest consumer economy.

Everyone featured in the book, including the author, is an "Old China Hand". Several of the companies are legacy firms, those with pre-WWII and pre-Mao histories who returned after the country turned face forward once again. Others are case study JV's with relatively short, 10-20 year pasts. Each chapter is compelling.

There is some flag waving for the Chinese. These are people who have listened to countless stories at countless banquets about the Chinese fear of chaos and the cultural scar tissue of 150 years (roughly 1790-1940) of shameless behavior by colonial minded Westerners in China. These stories are, after all, Inculcation 101 for any Westerner attempting even superficial commerce or business in the Middle Kingdom. Let's not forget the Chinese did a pretty good job of creating 25+ years of chaos themselves during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. The Japanese were several degrees beyond shameless during World War II. These events are much fresher in the Chinese consciousness than King George III, yet he and Emperor Qianlong still seem to dominate every conversation that explains and/or justifies Chinese desire to top down control all macro and micro aspects of their economy, firms and even routine business transactions.

Still, there is sage wisdom on every page. The book is best when the execs tell what they did in China to be successful. Some of the common themes are the need for good local managers and training programs, a corporate culture of equality with your Chinese partners regardless of equity division, the success of long term strategies versus short term. The deliberate love each exec feels for what they are doing and, in some ways, for China, is clear. The awesome change taking place in this country is also reflected in these interviews. A difference in attitude and tone can be seen between execs in consumer product industries versus sensitive and still restricted ones like oil.

Very little happens fast in China, except the neckbreaking pace at which Western funds are being spent to form infrastructure and modern physical assets. These are the people who have footed a noteworthy part of the bill. They have alot of value to say and this is a rare peak at thinking at their rung of the international corporate business ladder.

Well, you have BOTH Ha Jin AND Arthur Golden praising it on the back cover--what can you expect? (I like one and not the other). While the cover made me think that this was going to be a "wacky," irreverent account by a young, half-Chinese woman, the book is instead an extremely well-written, thought-provoking colletion of essays on ethnicity and identity. Rekdal is a poet, and it shows in her evocative descriptions, in her lyrical passages, in an effortlessly beautiful line rendered for the reader's benefit. Grappling with the vexatious issue of personal identity, Rekdal comes up with great insight and meaning into the problem without being narcisstic or excessively introspective; the book succeeds brilliantly wihtout offering any simple, pat conclusions. Though the essay's topics are somewhat disjointed--they go from America to Korea to China to childhood, etc--the disconnected structure seems to be part of the point: as the subtitle suggests, these are "observations of not fitting in." I liked her juxtaposition of the uncanny, the frustrating, the disappointing things along with the beautiful, the personal, the "mini-epiphanic" aspects.

And yes, she is also very witty. The humor is very sharp. I found myself laughing hysterically at an Elvis reference and I normally don't find him amusing. Finally, as someone who also spent a year teaching high school students in a small city in Korea, I was delighted and amazed to read about experiences that I related to. I'm grateful for that alone, but it's a great book in all other aspect as well.

There are always stereotypes to be stripped down, aren't there?

Rekdal's themes (race, how Americans are perceived overseas, how Americans perceive each other) make you think, but her writing won't make you struggle. Her essays, built around episodes of her life, are sad, funny, entertaining and insightful.

An excellent book. Highly recommended. I wish I could teach a course called "Race in America" just so I could get more people to read this book.

Well, you have BOTH Ha Jin AND Arthur Golden praising it on the back cover--what can you expect? (I like one and not the other). While the cover made me think that this was going to be a "wacky," irreverent account by a young, half-Chinese woman, the book is instead an extremely well-written, thought-provoking colletion of essays. Rekdal is a poet, and it shows in her evocative descriptions, in her lyrical passages, in an effortlessly beautiful line. Rekdal pulls it off without being narcisstic or excessively introspective; the book succeeds brilliantly. Though the essay's topics are somewhat disjointed--they go from America to Korea to China to childhood, etc--the disconnected structure seems to be part of the point: as the subtitle suggests, these are "observations on not fitting in." I liked her juxtaposition of the uncanny, the frustrating, the disappointing things along with the beautiful, the personal, the "mini-epiphanic" aspects.

And yes, she is also very witty. The humor is very sharp. I found myself laughing hysterically at an Elvis reference and I normally don't find him amusing. Finally, as someone who also spent a year in a small city in Korea, I was delighted that she related experiences that I shared myself when I taught high school students in South Korea.

Ms. Rekdal's numerous observations are personal and touching. Many Americans have struggled with an identity crisis. I understand fully the crushing power of long and brutal silences mentioned in the text. I am so glad that Ms. Rekdal is not silent at all.

i am so happy to have stumbled upon this book. This author is so intelligent, observant, witty and creative. This book was charming and relatable. i laughed aloud as some of my own personal experiences were so similar, it was amazing. Rekdal is able to put into words feelings that i hadn't been able to describe. Even if one hasn't had cultural identity questions about him/herself this book is enjoyable and some sentences read almost like poetry. Her stories are very insightful and she captures the essence of how people think and react.

"A jolly, laughing lady," those are the opening words of the biography.
The closing words are:
"To be able to share what I have learned with others is a privilege and a joy. Has not this journey been an enviable inheritance in itself?"

In between those personal words, I got the chance to intimately share the life of Winnifred Eaton. Birchall opens the family vaults, secrets and intimacies; shares her deductions and her thoughts about Winnifred with me as reader; and writes in a zesty, tangy language that kept seducing me to read on and on.
The things I learned about the early filmindustry in Hollywood and the look behind the screens, are as fascinating as all the facts about the working conditions for women in the first half of the century in the USA

This biography by Birchall leads me to wonder and think about Winnifred as a human being and also about the culture and times that Winnifred went through in her life and tackled straight on, in her own inimitable style.
What more can a biography do?

Normally I am none too fond of biographies as genre. This one had me enthralled, qua content and style of writing.

Birchall's fascinating and beautifully written account of her grandmother's life is an important work for scholars in women's studies, Asian-American or American studies, Canlit, and the movie industry, and for the general reader seeking a compelling biography.

Other reviewers have mentioned Eaton/Watanna's background. I will stress instead the absorbing interest of Winnifred's successive reinventions of herself in societies that had no ready place for her. Like a brilliant slackrope walker with an increasingly awkward load, Winnifred managed to shift her balance not only to survive, but pulled off one tour de force after another. Her performances as a Japanese-American novelist, as a screenwriter and as a rancher doyenne would win applause from Daniel Defoe.

Eaton/Watanna has become a focal interest of American scholars in recent years. As her granddaughter, Birchall had informaitonal advantages in writing on her. Her graceful, well-considered book shows how glad we should be for Birchall's advantages.

I didn't mean to like Winnifred Eaton. After all, she was a bit of a fanfaronade and very much of a poseur, not at all the sort I wanted in my circle of intimates.

But Diana Birchall's sparkling biography changed my mind. Writing with unblinking honesty, Birchall describes the many lives that her chameleon grandmother lived, from journalist and novelist to story editor and screenwriter. Of most interest to me were the stories of her career as wife in two unconventional marriages and mother to four children. Birchall's graceful use of language is enhanced by her wit and intelligently ironic style. She concludes this delightful biography with the acknowledgment that sharing what she has learned about her grandmother has been a privilege and a joy. Surely it is no less a privilege and a joy for the reader.

In my library I have dozens of books inherited from my parents and my grandparents. We have been readers for several generations, and I grew up with many of these books. One of these books was a novel called "The Heart of Hyacinth" by an author mysteriously named Onoto Watanna. The author was unknown to me, but I thought the book was one of the most beautiful of all the books I'd inherited, with lovely Japanese-style illustrations and drawings.

But now I've had a chance to learn about the woman who lurked behind that exotic nom de plume. I learn she was not Japanese at all, but half Chinese and half English. Yet her true story seems to be as fully exotic as any of the character's lives from her books.

Diana Birchall has done a wonderful job of bringing her fascinating grandmother to life. The book give a wonderful look at a most unusual woman, and what life was like for young women at the turn of the last century. At least what life was like when the young women were as self-confident and gutsy as the young Winnifred Eaton.

"A jolly, laughing lady" are the first words of the bigraphy; the last ones are: "To be able to share what I have learned with others has been a privilege and a joy. Has not this journey been an enviable inheritance in itself?"

Inbetween these words Birchall indeed shares with the reader the life of Winnifred, in personal and intimate detail. Birchall also seduces the reader into not just reading, but thinking about the culture and times Winnifred faced in her own inimitable style, from her life in Canada as young girl down to the years of Hollywood.

Normally I am none too fond of biographies but this one enchanted me, by the content and by the style of Birchall's writing. Full of zest, lifely images and easy to read on and on. As non native reader I appreciated this very much; it was a joy and a privilege to share. Would that all biographies were such a good read!

I found the notes to the poems particularly valuable - thanks to them, the collection becomes a window into Chinese history and society.
I really miss an index by author, and, as usual, I am ill-at-ease with Red Pine's system of transliteration. It may seem superior to pinyin to the author, but it makes really hard to connect the places and people mentioned in this book to what one already knows to about Chinese history. It may be another case of the inferior system becoming the standard, but pinyin is the standard at this point, and fighting it is a bit quixotic at this point.
These are the things one notices when a book is good enough to read and spend time with, so do not let this put this off. In fact, I can't wait for more Red Pine translations.

Those who have never read Red Pine's translations are in for a treat. Those who have read them will continue to enjoy the feast.

Beautiful graphically, the book and the poetry SING! Red Pine has a wonderful gift in transmitting wisdom and spirit with words that transport one to a higher plane of existence, even if only temporarily. Even when the reader returns, the impact still remains and the awareness of the depth of quality one's life can have, is not soon forgotten.

Previous reviewers have already summarized the more obvious qualities of this book; I agree with their comments. I found that for the student of Chinese culture, Chinese education, or Chinese thought, the book is a stunning introduction to a way of expressing observations and meaning in compact forms. In particular, the poetry seems both denser and more graceful than similar forms in English poetry, and more complex than the haiku forms descended from it. Chinese speakers I know vouched for the sensitive transliteration.

Basho advised a haiku student to "read Chinese poetry" to write better haiku. I came to this work after struggling with haiku for a long time. I found Basho's advice to be good and this book to be a remarkable way to begin. The historical text snippets offered with the poems make further reflection easy without attempting to "define" all that the poem means.

Red Pine (Bill Porter) has beautifully translated this important collection of Chinese verse. His commentaries, too, are well worth reading.

This book would be an excellent text for those who wish to learn to read T'ang and Sung poetry, and classical literary Chinese in general. The Chinese and English poems are presented on facing pages. Each poem is sufficiently brief to allow students the opportunity to (begin to) learn a complete work of literature without the intimidation that can accompany larger texts -- and there are 224 such poems in this translation, which gives ample scope for learning in nice, easy steps. (Of course this will have to be done using a dictionary like Mathews', and the student will need some familiarity with looking characters up by radical -- this is not a teaching text with a glossary and explanatory notes about language usage.)

Even if one does not desire to use this collection to learn Chinese, the English translations are certainly beautiful poems in their own right, and are worth spending time with. And meanwhile, the Chinese texts are always there, extending a gentle invitation to the curious.

Surely every lover of Chinese (and English!) poetry will treasure this book.

Another gift from Red Pine (Bill Porter) whose love for Chinese verse and the Dharma have shaped him into one of the foremost translators of the old poets. This Chinese classic has been around for eight centuries, but is here finally available in English! The volume offers 123 poets, 224 poems. Adjacent Chinese text and critical notes are provided for each poem. Included at the end are a timeline of the Dynasties from c. 2200 BCE to 1368, a complete index of the poets, and a complete index of the titles. This is a monumental work and an extraordinary gift from the translator. A typical verse from this collection, called In Reply, by a poet called The Ancient Recluse:

Somehow I ended up beneath pines
sleeping in comfort on boulders
there aren't any calendars in the mountains
winter ends but who counts the years

A sincere thank you to Red Pine and Copper Canyon Press for providing these treasures.

I am trying to be cute with my title. Maybe it didn't work. But what did work for me was how informative and all-around helpful this book was for me. A former Shar-pei "co-habitant" (at a home I lived at in the 90's), I had a birds-eye view of this breed, but couldn't quite remember all the details of what to expect. This cleared it all up for me. I recommend this book for people who are trying to learn about these wonderful dogs.

I have previously owned a shar pei before, but when my husband and I started planning on getting a new puppy I thought I would find a good book on shar pei. I bought three books originally but came to find that I like this one the best. Its simple and not very big, but is filled with lots of information. Info ranges from caring for you puppy or adult dog, health concerns, nutrition, obedience training and information about the shar pei breed. I would reccommend this book to anyone who has or is getting a shar pei.

I am brand new to the breed Shar Pei's and recently bought 2 puppies for my husband for Christmas (now 3 1/2 months old). I knew that the breed was an excellent temperment for families and small children (they met my niece who is 1 1/2 yrs old and they ignored her for the most part, but played well with her, and she liked them).

I wanted a book that would tell me about the breed, possible health problems that they may have, and general living and training tips. This book absolutley fit the bill. It's the square deal.

First off, the author recognizes that this breed does have health issues, and lists those off. For a new owner, or possible owner, this lets you know what happens SPECIFIC to the Shar Pei. I have read other Shar Pei books and found them to be very general to dogs, and not just to Shar Peis.

Surfing the net, it seems hard to find specific information that you want to know before going to the vet. We live in a rural area, so our vet has not dealt with many Shar Pei's, so as the owner, I want to be as knowlegeable as possible when discussing possible problems. I found this book to help out with learning those aspects.

Overall, I fully recommend you to buy this book. Buy this book if you are considering buying a Shar Pei, and it will let you know what you are getting into.

After 4 litters, I have decided to give one of these books to each of our new owners. It is a down to earth, easy read. Anyone who reads this book should feel comfortable with the contents. They will come to know that the Shar-pei is one of the best breeds around. That is why I breed them and would recommend this book to all.

This book tell you everything you want to know about the sharpei,even how to train and educate your dog,everything about health, behavior, etc... You won't need any other book.

"Simple Language for the Adoptive Families, Chinese" is a super tool for anyone traveling to China for their adoptive child. It has simple phrases for difference situations, and among my favorite are "Coming Home, Words of Affection, Boundaries, Important Words and Phrases, People, and Feelings." There are many more we will use like "at the table, Bedtime and Health." This book gives me the necessary phrases to direct my child in the beginning for the transition to a new language. My 12 year old has had fun learning these phrases as well. The CD is an important tool for correct pronunciation. This book and CD is a must for any adoptive parent. I am very glad I found this book.

This book and CD have been very helpful to our family as we attempt to learn the language we will need to communicate with our new child.

I started off with ambitous plans to learn Chinese before our adoption but have never been able to make the time needed. This product (book and CD) focuses on a critical few phrases that I think I can handle and gives me the tools to do so. I strongly recommend it.

I have searched and searched for a simple, easy to understand, Chinese language book with the basics to communicate with our child when we adopt. I received the book this week and was so pleased with the size and the content. This is the easiest language book and CD that I have ran across to learn. With the English on left page, and Chinese on right, with the exact pronunciation......there's just no other book like it, if you want something to just simply communicate with your child. I have no doubt this book will be extremely useful in our adoption. The CD is great and very easy to understand and follow with a great Mandarin speaker! In my opinion, this is the perfect book to allow you to speak to your child for the first time on "Gotcha Day", and will make the transition for both parent and child smooth. Plus the size is small and easy to fit in a purse, diaper bag, or back pocket.

Our family is in the process of adopting from China. It is important to us to learn enough of the Chinese language so that we will be capable of offering some comfort to our new baby girl. This resource is easy to use, and, as another reviewer mentioned, the size of the book makes it small enough to fit in a purse or diaper bag so that it is readily available when it's needed. My seven year old son has already learned many of the phrases, and I am beginning to feel a little less intimidated about coping with the language barrier that will surely exist between us and our new daughter. I highly recommend this resource for anyone adopting from China!

Everything about this book is great: the food, pictures (we can actually see what the meal is supposed to look like)not to mention that the books were new and arrived in no time. I would definitely go back to this seller.

This is an amazing cookbook. If the bilingual recipes didn't give it away, the recipes would -- this is incredibly authentic and varied cooking. The other positive reviews here are exactly on the mark. The photos are a good indication of the real food you will cook.

After having now tried almost every recipe in this book, I can say that they are all absolutely delicious! This cookbook is essential for anyone who wants to learn how to cook Indo/Malay/Sing food. My boyfriend is Indonesian and had been bugging me for some of his childhood favorites such as Lontong. The satay is the best I have ever had, in or out of Indonesia. The recipes are also super easy. There is no complicated preparation for any of the recipes. Even someone who is a novice could make these with ease (and they will taste great!). I live in Tallahassee and we have one not too big Asian market. With a little searching, I found virtually all of the ingredients needed. Most of the ingredients are readily availible in your average grocery store. If you do have an Asian market, even a small one, they can often find something that you need, so don't be afraid to ask. The book itself is perfectly laid out and there are color photos of every single dish. I highly recommend this cookbook!

Finally, a cookbook that satisfies my frequent cravings for foods like padang spicy beef, sate, and hainan chicken!! After living in Southeast Asia for a number of years, I fell in love with the cuisine of this region and since then, I've been searching long and hard for a cookbook like this one to come out. It's easy enough to find decent cookbooks for Thai food or Vietnamese food these days, as a single search will turn up thousands of results, but it's truly a rare find to come across a cookbook on the foods of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore - especially one of this quality! The recipes, each of which is accompanied by a large, beautiful picture, are concise and easy to follow, and the food itself is simply amazing. Now that I have this book, I no longer have to suppress my cravings or fight the urge to fly back to the islands to get my fix of Gado Gado (Java styled salad), Kari Sapi (Malaysian beef curry), or Kangkung Tumis (spicy, Singaporean water spinach). Funny thing is, I never thought I would ever be able to make these foods myself! But what surprised me most was the fact that these dishes tasted even better than I remembered, coming out of my own kitchen no less! (now *that* is truly incredible). So do yourself a favor and buy this book - you'll not only save tons of money you'd otherwise spend at mediocre Malaysian/Indonesian/Singaporean restaurants in the area (if there even are such restaurants available to you), but you'll also be able to impress everyone with your newfound ability to cook dishes as delicious and as hard to come by as the ones shared in this cookbook. Definitely worth every penny and more!

Being a native Indonesian far away from home, I crave for the rich and savory flavor of the cuisine from these three countries. Unlike Thai cuisine, Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine is still not well known here in United States. Therefore there are limited restaurants that offer this cuisine. You can imagine my agony of having to suppress my craving until I make a trip to these restaurants in NYC or Toronto. It all changed after I bought this cookbook. This cookbook is amazing! It contains 68 recipes that are divided into Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian recipe sections. A one-page spread picture accompanies each recipe, which is very helpful for people who are not familiar with this cuisine. The author starts by introducing the countries and their cuisine followed by glossary of ingredients, seasonings, spices and herbs. It then continues with recipes for stocks, condiments, pickled salads, sambal chilli sauces (used like chutneys in Indian cuisine), and assorted spice pastes. These spice pastes are used in a lot of the recipes and they are what give this cuisine its fragrant, rich and savory flavors. This book offers specialties from Singapore (Hainan chicken rice, spiced sparerib soup, spring roll, laksa, spicy crabs, sweet coconut rice balls, etc), Malaysia (fried noodle, coconut rice, sate, beef curry,vegetable with grated coconut, etc) and Indonesia (beef rendang, eggs in spicy red sauce, java salad or gado gado, turmeric fried chicken, etc). I have tried more than a dozen of the recipes and they all taste fantastic! Most of all they taste authentic. They are a huge hit with my American boyfriend and roomate. There are some ingredients that are hard to find, even in Asian markets (especially in small towns). I had to shop online at an Indonesian grocery store to find most of the hard to find ingredients like candlenut, dried galangal, pandan leaves, palm sugar, kaffir leaves and shrimp paste. However, they are worth it. I use dried galangal because I don't have access to fresh ones. I substitute fresh red chilli with bottled ground chilli paste called Sambal Oelek. It works just as wonderful! I think this is the most authentic and remarkable cookbook I have. It is simple, clear, precise and a gem. I would recommend this cookbook if you want to bring authentic new flavors to your table. It helps ease my homesickness. Nowadays, I call my mom up to say "I made beef rendang today!"... something I had never said before this cookbook.

OK, first and foremost, this is not a language learning book. What it is is a "learning aid" book that motivates your interest and curiosity of the structure and origins of the Chinese written language. What do I mean? If you are learning Chinese, it describes many relationships between characters that enhance your ability to remember them, as well as recognize insights to meanings of characters you do not even know. In some ways it is a narrative version of another excellent book, the more dictionary-like "Reading and Writing Chinese: A Guide to the Chinese Writing System" by William McNaughton and Li Ying. Both excellently address the origins and relationships between characters, but with very different styles.

Chang and Chang colorfully, interestingly, and amusingly describes contrasts, contradictions, and anomalies in character formation. It is a charming book that I would highly recommend to the language student.

Even if you are not learning the language, the book still offers interesting discussions about characters. Western languages, and many others, are truly different from the "phonetic" languages so many of us know. Chinese construction is old, yet novel, so meaning-rich, that it presents an interesting discussion and perspective. And the writing itself remains unchanged over a much longer period than western languages.

Read a few of its pages and see if you don't agree.

The subtitle sounds daunting, doesn't it? But this clever little book is so well written, in a friendly, colloquial voice, that you'll turn the pages as quickly as you might while reading a frothy novel. At the same time, the book is jammed with information--about the basics of the Chinese language and how it has managed to survive without an alphabet; about various dynasties; about Chinese folklore and everyday life. If you're thinking of visiting China, if you're interested in languages, or if you've adopted a child from China, this book is a wonderful introduction to a land and culture that we Westerners tend to dismiss.

Excellent! This little book is packed with information and is easy to read and follow. Topics covered: The written and spoken language, its historical roots, household communication, the future of the language and the impact of technology. I have perused other Chinese language books, but this one is by far the best I've seen.

This book is great for learning about Chinese language construction and writing. And its relationship to Chinese culture and history. But not for learning specifiaclly how to speak or write Chinese.

With that said, this is a very entertaing book and hard to put down.
Among the subjects it covers are:

* Langage construction. For exaample how questions are asked
in Chinese. And general sentence structure.

* How pictographs came about and how archologists traced their
orgins.

* How Chinese pictographs are taught to children in China.
(They have to memorize them--each one.)

* Chinese tongue twisters.

* How Chinese writing styles differ from the spoken word,
classical and contemporary. How this related to testing
for government officials, and how the Communist revolution
changed this.

* How Chinese language construction differs from English
language.

And much more.



I have been working at teaching myself Chinese, and it is so different that there is a lot of the concepts that I was not able to grasp until reading this book.

If you are going to study Chinese, I would highly recommend reading this book first.

If you are interested in Chinese culture, I highly recommend reading this book. Culture and language are intimately tied togeather.

I write as a newbie to China and its ancient language, who used this book as orientation and as a break from the rote work that learning Chinese demands.

The book is a well-written overview of the written and spoken languages which provides a "top-down" overview of the terrain that language learning neglects for drill in basic conversation. In particular, "business" Chinese can be easily a form of Klingon, an oversimplified language informed only by current concerns, which may create the very misunderstandings it pretends to avoid.

But as a Western educator I disagree with an implication in the chapter "Old Wisdom, New Technology", and this is that because "technology" is "Western", Chinese students are better off learning Pinyin and computers than writing the characters...or, perhaps, that we must accept this naturalized development.

The continued survival of the abacus and the fact that it's faster than electronic calculators in the hands of a skilled operator should teach us not to reify Western Technology, that is, to treat it as a natural force like global warming to which we must necessarily, perhaps with a sigh of ai-ya, demur.

Understood as an extension of culture, the Chinese up to about 1750 had MORE technology in the sense of practical solutions to problems of daily life than did Europeans.

The "complexity" of Chinese characters is not an absolute. It is relative to the origins of the Western encoding of "all" characters in 256 bits, the "ASCII" code, which in the early 1960s simply ignored the fact that most people use a richer "character set".

Complementary to the complexity of Chinese characters is the fact that their mastery imparts information handling skills at an early age and results in the self-discipline which has made Chinese software developers, for years, highly successful at creating "Western" solutions.

In general any claim that a system of writing is "too complex" needs to be classified with Plato's original charge against writing, that it was marginal and unnecessary to the conduct of affairs, and, as Derrida has shown, this charge is bad faith since it can only be made in writing, in traditional Chinese terms, by a vermilion decree swaying all under heaven.