Portland Public Library

Chinese lessons, five classmates and the story of the new China, John Pomfret

eng

Includes index

individual biography

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

Chinese lessons

64390603

John Pomfret

five classmates and the story of the new China

A first-hand account of the remarkable transformation of China over the past forty years. As a 20-year-old exchange student from Stanford in 1981, Pomfret spent a year at Nanjing University in China. His classmates were among those who survived the twin tragedies of Mao's rule--the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution--and whose success in government and private industry today are shaping China's future. Pomfret went on to a career in journalism, spending the bulk of his time in China. After attending the twentieth reunion of his class, he decided to reacquaint himself with some of his classmates. This book is their story and his own. As we watch Pomfret and his classmates begin to make their lives as adults, we see the human cost and triumph of China's transition from near-feudal communism to first-world capitalism.--From publisher description

Warmly welcome you -- The slap -- Broken wing -- Father's lessons -- Black bricks -- A meat pie from heaven -- Bitter love -- Party animal -- Outside the gates -- New street crossing -- A handful of bran -- Spiritual pollution -- Petrified marriage -- Yin finds yang -- Crossed paths -- Show me the money -- To the barricades -- Asylum -- Fishy handshakes -- Fake foreign devils -- Killing the chickens -- White like mother's milk -- Rice bowl Christians -- Yes man -- Homecoming -- The adman -- The China price -- Spiritual civilization -- Gods and animals -- Pine on a cliff -- Endure -- Crawling home -- The enthusiasms of high altitude -- Severe and acute -- High tides -- Thugs' revolution -- My place in the procession -- Conclusion: The Chinese dream