China Books

The book is well written and has good pace. The The true stories of two Tibettan lives, largely imprisoned, at the hands of the Chinese is an important historical document and a sad testament to human cruelty. I highly recommend this book as background to travelers and for those interested in the plight of Tibet.

The book is well written and has good pace. The The true stories of two Tibettan lives, largely imprisoned, at the hands of the Chinese is an important historical document and a sad testament to human cruelty. I highly recommend this book as background to travelers and for those interested in the plight of Tibet.

This honest and shocking book recounts the true story,in their own words,of two Tibetans imprisoned by the occupying Chinese. Ama Adhe's story is perhaps the most shocking and disturbing account in this well written book. An ordinary Tibetan woman who commited the "crime" of being related to a Tibetan freedom fighter, she recounts her early years in the then free Tibet and offers a fascinating insight into a lost world. She details the brutal Chinese Gulag, and details the systematic starvation,(and the attendant cannabalism)torture, execution and rape she encountered there. Her survival was reliant on both luck and the attentions of a Chinese doctor who did not approve of what the Communist authorities were doing. A truly harrowing account from one lucky enough to survive and escape to bear witness.

Tenpa Soepa's account is hardly any less disturbing. A Tibetan government official he was intimately involved in the flight of the Dali Lama. Because of this he was selected for special treatment by the Chinese and endured several years in a prison in China along with seventy four others; twenty two and a half suvived. It is hard to understand how one reduced to cannabalism can relate his story so honestly. His story proves that the Tibetans did not meekly submit to Chinese rule as some may erroneously believe, but fought courageously against overwhelming odds in the face of almost certain death. Tenpa Soepa's survival is down to the fact that a fellow inmate and friend chose to commit suicide rather than implicate him in an escape plot. "Greater love hath no man......."

This is an important book. Witness to the destruction and genocide of a nation it is a searing testament of man's inhumanity to man and a humbling book to read. It should be required reading in the schools system, to stand as a warning of what happens when humanity is subjugated to ideology, and the consequences of the loss of humanity. "I was only following orders..." Read it and weep.

This might be the most honest and simultaneously most unreflective book I have read about life in China. It is the author's story of coming to China in March of 2006 with little money in his pocket and a failed life as an actor in LA, and how, within a year, he spoke `fluent' Chinese, had plenty of money and women and, well, a great material life. He explains how great life in `China' is (he actually only speaks of Beijing): cops are friendly, streets are safe, all Chinese are nice and warm, there are no taxes, and everyone apparently loves him. He gushes over making 18,000 RMB a month through a combination of being a part-time restaurant host, ESL teacher, sometime actor, and white office prop, and how he can live on 9,000 a month, which leaves him $1,200 a month in savings to buy a home and a car. What else? Other foreigners are rude and mean and pushy and act superior to Chinese, while he gets along with everyone. He lives in Wudaokou with most of the other foreigners, dances at the Sanlitun clubs, and has a great time trying to score Han girls. Though he assures his readers that he magically `knows' China, he does not appear to have a clue that having four different girl friends in a year will not make him cool in the eyes of Chinese people, especially guys.

As stupid as this book is, it is also profoundly accurate. If at one time `failed in London, try Hong Kong' was the mantra for Englishmen, while Americans gravitated to first Japan and Korea and later Taiwan, China today, or more accurately Beijing and Shanghai, are the promised lands for a new generation of white men who for various reasons have failed in their own societies. They of course do not think they have failed, but instead that society has failed them. Urban life in China is cheap, white guys, no matter how ugly or obnoxious they may be, can have passive and younger women, and the cops and authorities do not generally interrupt the party. So, in regard to foreigners - who are overwhelmingly male in a place like Beijing - Williams' account is more or less accurate. Cops do not bother them, some Han girls will sleep with them, most Chinese people will never speak critically to their faces, and life is, compared to North America, very cheap. The fundamental fact that life in `China' is clearly not a paradise for most Chinese doesn't really matter to the author. Then again, this is how colonialism has worked for centuries.

If only the title were, `Failed in America, try China', then Williams would be spot on. The United States does not just export its crappy beer these days (lan dai, AKA Pabst Blue Ribbon, remains in business in China for some mysterious reason), but also its second-rate citizens.

Oh, I know in advance that many people will complain how mean this review is. Whatever; as a Chinese guy in Beijing said to me, "the book sounds like something from the `Arabian Knights'".

May 2008, was my first visit to China. Read the book June 2008. Wrong, I did it backwards. Now as I read this great book I realize all the funny things that happened was actually me not knowing the customs. I'm lucky I did smile all the time at everyone, as he recommended, as I could see or feel them become friendlier when they saw it. I didn't realize the problems I caused by leaving a restraunt with the chop sticks sticking up from the rice bowl, My Chinese friend ran back and took them down, Now I understand why. Great Book, Great reviews on Beijing and Shanghi. I will re-read before I go again to this great country. Good writer, well written and funny. Hard to put it down. Good job!

This is an informative and entertaining first-hand account of the author's move to China. I found the story interesting and enjoyable to read. While some parts may not be politically correct, I agree with one of the main premises of the book - that for some people trying to build a career or life in the U.S., there may be many opportunities and experiences to be found in China (whether professional, cultural, personal or otherwise). The author felt dissatisfied with his life, and may a bold decision to change it. It's encouraging to read about his story and the challenges and rewards he encountered. Along the way, the author provides a lot of his insight and information about China, including food, holidays, cost of living, making friends, and learning Chinese.

If you want a good real-world book that'll also entertain you, then get this. I stayed up till 3 o'clock in the morning reading my copy the day I got it.
I'd been living in China longer than the author when he wrote this, but the book helped me discover that I'd overlooked alot of obvious opportunities and good times. Whether you're an expert in Chinese ways or have no interest in China, I would still recommend this book. Williams has a very unique perspective, so everybody can learn something from his experiences. It is as entertaining as it is informative, reading like a good novel, and then there's the added bonus of learning useful information.
This book could be enjoyed by just about anyone. Williams is like a modern Indiana Jones and and also happens to be a fine writer. I have nothing negative to say. Just read it.

Garth K. USA-China

This is the book I WISH I had bought before coming to China 2 years ago. Simple, straight-forward, practical instruction coupled with some real choice insights -- like the fact that the /n/ in "shenme" is silent or that speakers often drop the rising part of the 3rd tone when followed by another syllable -- would have saved me a lot of struggling through more traditional Chinese textbooks (re: long vocabulary lists and not particularly useful dialogues about visiting Datong or attending a friend's wedding) and making simple mistakes for many, many months. But live and learn! I'm still glad I bought this book and will use it as an occasional refresher of some of the basics, especially for things I haven't done in a while (like changing money). Plus, I had the chance to meet Don Snow last spring, before I even knew about this book, and found him to be a really nice and fascinating guy who truly understands the complex experience of the foreigner living and working in China.

Coming from someone who has amassed a very large collection of Chinese language learning books and tools, I have to say that this little book is the most practical one I've seen yet. This book is perfect for someone who is moving to China. The lessons cover material that you will need to use. Each chapter has handy little assignments, some to do with a language tutor and some to make you get out in the local Chinese community and actually COMMUNICATE. Though some may find it not scholarly enough, for those that are looking for practical language value, I highly recommend it.


Reviewed by Barbara Strother, author of Moon Living Abroad in China (Living Abroad).

As a practicing language teacher (I have taught English, French, Spanish and Russian to Chinese speakers) who learned his Chinese in the US using British, American, French, Russian and Chinese textbooks and has lived in Taiwan for over 30 years, I can assure readers that this is a very well-designed primer with remarkably few defects.

The first 65 pages are devoted to the necessary groundwork for studying Chinese.

Introduction [pp. 1-7], "Why Another beginning Chinese Textbook?" explains that this book is designed to help people who are probably NOT in a formal classroom setting, but do need to get around in a (Mainland) Chinese environment. "An important part of Chinese study in such situations is learning how to work with tutors who know Chinese but don't know how to teach it. In other words, learners need to learn how to gently turn well-meaning native speakers of Chinese into effective language teachers."

The next section, "Studying Chinese With This Book," [pp. 8-29] presents three strategies: [Plan A: The First-Month-In-China Spoken Chinese Plan], [Plan B: The Speaking and Survival Reading Plan], [Plan C: The Total Mastery Plan]. Learners are responsible for deciding how and what they want to learn, instead of relying on what Mr. Snow diplomatically refers to as "well-meaning native speakers'" decisions about what a foreigner should be learning. This entails gauging one's energy levels and available time as well as deciding on a preferred study style. The author gives many intelligent suggestions, such as forming a support group of like-minded people and avoiding lazy (of course, Mr. Snow is too polite to say it directly) foreigners who claim Chinese is just too difficult.

The third section, "Working With Tutors," has many astute observations, such as why professional teachers usually don't make ideal tutors and how (and why!) to pay tutors without causing offense.

The fourth and largest introductory section covers pronunciation and the greatest stumbling stone for most foreign learners, the four tones. This is one place where I would disagree with Mr. Snow. His basic advice is sound (keep listening and practice a lot), but his description of tone is phonetically naive. Snow uses a 6-pitch scale (0-5) rather than the 5-pitch scale (1-5) used by modern linguists for the past 90 years or so. Snow is quite systematic about marking neutral tone (which he renames "light" tone), but inexplicably marks the general measure word "ge" as "ge4" throughout the text. Snow mentions tone sandhi (without using the technical word) involving two third-tone syllables, but ignores tone sandhi involving 1, 7, and 8 (which many Chinese also ignore, so at least he's consistent). Since this is a textbook for general readers who just want to get their feet wet, these problems are rather trivial.

The main body of this book is divided into 24 lessons. One of the things I admire the most is that this textbook is peppered with many practical suggestions on how to get out into the street and practice with real people, along with the occasional pep talk for those whose progress seems too slow. A few samples:

Lesson 8: Getting Things Fixed "Point to equipment and appliances that might break or have already cause problems and ask your tutor to say the names of the objects in Chinese as you write them down in Pinyin. Keep a notebook."

Tip: Accents and dialects
"There are only a few places in China where the average person actually pronounces things the way textbooks say they should. ...accept this as a reality rather than burning a lot of emotional energy getting frustrated by it. Perhaps even revel in it as a reflection of China's rich regional diversity."

The last two sections are a Chinese to English glossary (pp. 307-327) and a list of other Chinese books to continue one's study and three guides to language learning. Survival Chinese would be useful even for people who plan to live in Taiwan, because a tutor can readily point out the few places where "We usually don't say it that way." Most of the simplified characters can be readily recognized by Taiwanese -- they will supply the traditional forms used here. I have bought several copies of this book to give away to foreign friends.

I work for a Stock brokers in the city of London and can finish the day extremely stress out. Graham Horwood's book gave me an incite into relieving stress, through both exercise (Tai Chi) and healthy eating. I highly recommend this book.

Tai Chi has been important to me for decades, and I respect my teacher (not Mr. Horwood). Nevertheless, my practice has attained only a modest level of sophistication, and the benefits I have derived have been modest. In searching the literature for help, I have found no shortage of impenetrable and flowery metaphor. I've found very little that is really practically helpful. This book is short, but it is very tightly written. It gives enough history to understand the many different guises under which Tai Chi appears. It explains clearly just WHY my practice is of limited value. It gives extremely accessible and functional approaches to improvement. Along the way, it imposes a body of knowledge of related symbols that is quite extensive. This "symbolic logic" has to be more than just memorized. A person has to "soak it in" so that it becomes a sort of second nature. If I can make an analogy to the production of a fine violin, the "symbology" is a "finish" that must not be "on the wood" but actually a "part of" the wood itself. Having prepared properly, the forms can then be used harmoniously. This seems to me a very excellent and expeditious approach. In only a couple of years of dedicated (extensive) practice, important gains can reasonably be expected. I have found nothing else like this---nothing nearly practical. It is a gift, but it isn't a free gift. Lots of study and lots of practice are needed, too. As Mr. Horwood says, if it were easy, it would hardly be worthwhile. Thanks so much.

This book is extremely spiritual and interesting. The book has actually changed my life. Before reading this book I was remarkably unhealthy and often had health complaints. Since reading this book I have completely changed by dietary and exercise patterns, with a surprisingly positive result. It took some time and a lot of dedication and perseverance but the result was astounding. Graham Horwood is a genius and I feel I owe him a great deal, as he not only changed my outlook on life but also improved my health and vitality, which after all is the most important aspect of living a good life. An absolute must buy!

This story of how the iChing came to be touched me deeply because it answered questions I've had for a long time. The story form and Wu Wei's purity of thought spoke to me in a way that I could hear better than any of the dozens of other books I've read lately. I hope if you're drawn to this book, you give yourself the treat of reading it!

The author knew how to explain the I Ching to a person who is completely ignorant in philosophy .

This is a wonderful little book. In a way it reminds me of Celestine Prophecy in that it tells an uplifting, heart-warming story that teaches and inspires. As it says on the cover, it is truly,"An Enchanted Journey into the Origins and Inner Workings of the I Ching." I loved the way it describes the relationship between the great sage Fu Hsi and his young student Tan. We see how the teacher elevates the awareness of his student with a profound and ineffable love, in the tradition of all great Guru/disciple relationships.

Michael LaFargue says the Tao Te Ching is the former even though it's often treated as the latter.

According to LaFargue (my paraphrase), there are two ways to read the Tao Te Ching, just as there are two ways to read any text.

The first -- the one taken by any number of readers of Lao-Tzu, including some "translators" whom LaFargue doesn't name and I won't either -- is to point your face at it and sort of see how it makes you, like, _feel_, you know?

The second, and the one LaFargue favors, is to place the text in the context for which it was written and try to understand what its writer or speaker would have intended by it.

This is the approach LaFargue uses in order to produce his excellent (and thoroughly annotated and cross-referenced) translation of the Tao Te Ching. He also, in an extremely helpful essay on hermeneutics, discusses this approach at length and explains the context in which he believes the text to have been written.

I won't try to discuss every topic he covers, but one extremely helpful point is his identification of much of the text as what he calls "compensatory wisdom." On his view, some of the Tao Te Ching's pithy sayings are intended not as metaphysical speculation but only as counters to contrary human tendencies. (When we say that "a watched pot never boils," we surely do not mean that if you sit there and watch a pot, it will literally _never_ boil. We are merely warning against a common tendency to rush things that can't be rushed.)

This seems to me to be right on the money, and indeed to be pretty widely applicable to Oriental religious literature including the Bible. It is the right way, for example, to read the book of Proverbs, and some of Jesus's sayings from the Christian New Testament as well.

LaFargue's volume, then, may be of interest both to readers of Lao-Tzu and to readers of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. In discussions of "biblical inerrancy" and such, it is too often forgotten that the Bible is ancient Near Eastern literature and therefore not written to modern Western European standards. Inerrantists and religious "liberals" alike could surely profit from greater appreciation of this point; many apparent contradictions just disappear (and so do some theological creeds) once we understand that the text isn't _always_ offering us metaphysical principles.

In any event, widespread reading of LaFargue's book might spare us another spate of ill-considered screeds on "the Tao of" this, that, and the other thing. What a relief that would be.

The three way comparison format (english translation, cultural translation, and reasoning for translation based on historical and linguistic fact) and the dry, reserved language give this book the cut to access unique tumblers in the most difficult of locks. LeFargue and his students (he mentions them adding their understanding) paint meaning and understanding like a watercolor, with each layer's contribution plainly visible, rather than the masking qualities of psuedo-scientists' day-glo acrylic or the holistic turtles' enamel pastels. Triangulating one's own understanding from a single source is an unusual treat. For a rational and restrained mind the fit is magic and the bolt of suspicion is thrown back (or a rough slide for some). All the same its the only book in its genre I've been able to wholly admire.

As an anthropologist, constantly confronted with hermeneutics and the interpretation of culturally unknown texts and social situations and as a former student of chinese language and philosophie I can only strongly recommend this book. It is -by far- the best translation and interpretation I have ever read. Crucial to the the understanding of teh tao te qing is a good and profound explanation of the historical and social setting of the work and its probable authors. Lafargue has achieved this wonderfully. Strongly recommended...

... Those pictures are 100% Chinese paintings and the difference between Chinese paintings and Japanese painting are very distinguished. (By the way, I am a Chinese American, and know both Chinese and Japanese cultures, including language and art, quite well.)

I have read countless translations of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. This is simply the best.

This book has given the ancient text of the Tao Te Ching new life. Each colorful page exudes the beauty and culture of the text. Japanese Art and Characters accompany the poetic translation. Anyone interested in Taoism would find this not only beautiful but also an informative treasure. This is not an item easily lost in your personal library. It is more likely to find its home on the coffee table.

This book is a treasure. It delights the eyes with its beautiful photographs of rural China; it delights the spirit with its thoughtful exploration of Chinese culinary tradition; it delights the mind with careful teachings on the important ingredients and methods of Chinese cookery, and finally it delights the tongue with foods that are healthy, nourishing and fantastically pleasing to the palate. In short, I love this book.

Steamed chicken with ginger scallion sauce, red cooked tofu, stir fried corn, gaozi dumpling soup, farmhouse chive and egg omelets, and many more I have now made so many times, over the course of a decade (or more) that I know them by heart, yet still I pull this book down off my shelf to revisit it like and old friend.

Track down a copy of this beautiful book and explore it slowly. You will never regret your decision, a cookbook cannot be any better. Aloha!

Wonderful. This book is just great! Ken Hom has not only shown how you could cook good traditional Chinese Food but also taught us a great deal in Chinese history, culture and traditions.

Very easy to follow. I have learned a lot from the book.

Thanks Ken.

A very fascinating and practical guide to the real authentic chinese cooking. Very well researched and easy to follow. Being an overseas chinese, I only use to hear about these authentic dishes from my grandfather, today I am keeping the tradition alive by cooking them! Two Thumbs up!

This account of the Vietnam War is a good. I really think it was important for me to find out more about how Americans conducted this war and how people felt about it It is especially interesting now that the Iraq War is happening and Americans are being accused of holding people without trial and torturing people.

Should be read in small segments, so overwhelmong is the inhumanity recounted here. The South Korean "allies" were worse torturers than the Americans.. several My Lais every day, and torture was ongoing for years for many of the civilians imprisoned in camps, too sickening to recount here. Brave book by a brave American woman.

The people of Vietnam tell what it was like when the Americans came to their country and destroyed it. Things you would not believe the Americans would do to a population. Publisher's Weekly said " It is difficult to imagine a more powerful indictment of American military conduct in Vietnam than these testimonies." With Photos by the author.

This is the very first Tintin book I have been exposed to. I read it for a University course in Children's Literature, and found the story to be fascinating and entertaining. The illustrations are detailed and marvelous -- grasping the attention of young and older readers alike. I am anticipating my next order of Tintin books!

Tintin, of course, is the intrepid reporter created by Georges Remi (1907-1983), better known as Hergé, who appeared in a series of adventures set around the world. The character first appeared in a serial newspaper strip with an adventure in the Soviet Union, then going to the Belgian Congo, America, and over a dozen other places (including a memorable two-part trip to the Moon). Tintin is usually accompanied by his dog, a white fox terrier named Snowy, an old seaman, Captain Haddock, an eccentric professor, Cuthbert Calculus, the look-alike bumbling detectives Thomson and Thompson, and a cast of other colorful characters. "The Adventures of Tintin" appeared in newspaper and books all over the world and reflected Hergé's own interest in and knowledge of places around the world.

Consequently, "Tintin's Travel Diaries" are inspired by Hergé's characters and based on notebooks Tintin may have kept as he traveled on his adventures. Each book in the series take young readers (or even us older ones) to a different country visited by Tintin, exploring its geography, and the customs, the culture, and the heritage of the people living there. The books combine Hergé's original artwork from the appropriate Tintin adventure, which is usually juxtaposed with photographs showing the country as it is today, thereby combining education with a bit of fun. Other volumes in the series look at Africa, the Amazon, China, Egypt, India, Peru, Russia, Scotland, and the United States.

"Tintin's Travel Diaries: Tibet" is organized around thirty key questions designed for young readers, from "Why is Tibet called the 'Roof of the World'" to "Where is the Dalai Lama?" Each question is dealt with in a two-page spread, the left side containing artwork from Hergé's "Tintin in Tibet" and the right with corresponding photographs showing his fidelity to the actual geography, costumes, and traditions of the land. The text, by Daniel De Bruycker and Marine Noblet (translated by Maureen Walker).

Of course, it is hoped that anyone who picks up this volume has already enjoyed "Tintin in Tibet," in which our hero has a dream that his friend Chang is calling to him for help. When it turns out Chang was on an airplane that crashed in Tibet, Tintin takes Snowy and Captain Haddock with him to rescue his friend. With the original Tintin adventure serving as an introduction to the land of Tibet, this travel diary will answer the many questions young readers will have about the far off land. The back of the volume includes a glossary of key terms, both a chronology and a map of the region, along with an index and bibliography "for readers from 7 to 77."

This is the very first Tintin book I have been exposed to. I read it for a University course in Children's Literature, and found the story to be fascinating and entertaining. The illustrations are detailed and marvelous -- grasping the attention of young and older readers alike. I am anticipating my next order of Tintin books!