More Books

SHANGHAI
More Books

About Face: A History of America's Curious Relationship With China • James Mann HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 464 PAGES Written by a journalist who lived in China in the late 1980s, this book follows and analyzes the course of Chinese-American associations through the 20th century. While political ideologies split these two nations, they are inevitably linked in the world of international trade and power struggles. (CHN111, $17.95)
The Analects of Confucius • D. C. Lao • Confucius RELIGION • 1979 • PAPER • 160 PAGES A popular and acclaimed modern translation of the writing of Confucius, an essential introduction to the man and his thoughts. Includes explanatory notes. (CHN123, $12.00)
Anthology of Chinese Literature, Volume II: From the 14th Century to the Present Day • Cyril Birch ANTHOLOGY • 1988 • PAPER • 476 PAGES An excellent collection of representative verse, song, stories, essays and excerpts from classic novels, a sampling of Chinese writing over the last 700 years with an introduction by the editor. It includes Ghosts and other Marvels, Red Chamber Dream and writing by masters little known in the West. This volume follows Birch's well received anthology of writings from ancient China, a banquet of love stories, operatic plays, drinking poems and other traditional Chinese writing. (CHN14, $16.50)
Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana • Stephanie Elizondo Griest BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2004 • PAPER • 416 PAGES The offbeat memoirs of a native Texan who spent four years as a volunteer in Moscow, a propaganda officer in Beijing, and a belly dancer in Havana. You may have come across Griest's distinctive voice in a collection of Travelers' Tales, where she is a regular contributor. She's young, a witty observer with a way with words, and utterly passionate about travel. This is her first book, as much memoir as travel account, spanning four years and three continents. (RUS242, $14.95)
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress • Sijie Dai • Ina Rilke LITERATURE • 2002 • PAPER • 208 PAGES A charming, unexpectedly witty, tale of two teenage boys in China sent off to the countryside during Mao's Cultural Revolution. This slim novel celebrates the power of stories and literature and the imagination. (CHN159, $13.95)
Between Mecca and Beijing, Modernization and Consumption Among Urban Chinese Muslims • Maris Boyd Gillette CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2002 • PAPER • 296 PAGES Published by Stanford University, this scholarly paper looks at how the Hui people of Xi'an -- ethnic Muslims -- have negotiated the right to religious freedom in the PRC. It focuses especially on their eating habits. (CHN180, $24.95)
Beyond the Stone Arches, An American Missionary Doctor in China, 1892-1932 • Edward Bliss, Jr. BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • HARD COVER • 256 PAGES A memoir of the author's physician father and his work in China at the turn of the 20th century by the broadcast journalist Edward Bliss. (CHN95, $24.95)
Bones of the Master, A Journey to Secret Mongolia • George Crane TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2001 • PAPER • 304 PAGES An odd, captivating biography of a 75-year-old Zen monk who escaped Inner Mongolia in the wake of China's Great Leap Forward in 1959, and the tale of his unlikely journey back to China with next-door-neighbor, friend and poet George Crane. It's a powerful story and not a bad introduction to Chinese history and Ch'an Buddhism. (CHN96, $17.00)
Bridge of Birds • Barry Hughart LITERATURE • 1990 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A novel of whimsy and fantasy set in ancient China, following the fantastic and humorous quest for the Great Root of Power, the only cure for a town overrun by illness. (CHN117, $7.99)
Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey • Kenneth Ch'en RELIGION • 1972 • PAPER • 560 PAGES A well organized, scholarly history of the development of Mahayana Buddhism in China, originally published in 1964. It's a popular college text, covering 2,000 years of Buddhism from its birth in India to the modern period. Ch'en pays particular attention to Buddhism in the T'ang Dynasty. With a glossary, list of Chinese names, and bibliography. (CHN151, $57.50)
Buddhism in Chinese History • Arthur F Wright RELIGION • 1983 • PAPER • 144 PAGES This standard short survey by a leading scholar of premodern China is a popular required text for university courses on Chinese history and religion. Originally published in 1959 and conversational in tone, the book is based on six lectures on the transformation of Chinese culture by Buddhism. With a small section of black-and-white photogaphs. (CHN131, $24.95)
Buddhist Art and Architecture • Robert Fisher ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1993 • PAPER • 216 PAGES A wide-ranging, illustrated survey of Buddhist art, architecture and iconography in the excellent World of Art series. It includes examples from throughout Asia. (ASA30, $19.95)
The Cambridge Illustrated History of China • Patricia Buckley Ebrey HISTORY • 2010 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A concise, handsomely illustrated survey of Chinese history. Organized chronologically, this book marches confidently through 8,000 years of Chinese civilization, balancing social issues with politics and culture. With maps and an excellent selection of accompanying photographs, many in color. (CHN79, $46.99)
Cave Temples of Mogao, Art and History on the Silk Road • Roderick Whitfield • Susan Whitfield • Neville Agnew ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2000 • PAPER • 138 PAGES • COMING IN A magnificently illustrated portrait of the ancient Buddhist monastery on the Silk Road. With fine color photographs of hundreds of murals, statues, and manuscripts of the Dunhuang (or Mogao) caves, a series of 500 grotto temples carved into the cliffs on the edge of the Gobi desert in northwest China. (CAS60, $29.95)
Central China Map • Nelles 2007 • MAP An excellent shaded relief map in the regional series by Nelles, at a scale of 1:1,500,000. It's an attractive map at a much-better-than-usual scale which covers from Shanghai west across the country, including Xian, Three Gorges and other popular destinations. Two Sides. 20x40 inches. (CHN65, $13.95)
Chasing the Panda • Michael Kiefer TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2002 • HARD COVER • 230 PAGES • COMING IN Subtitled: How an Unlikely Pair of Adventurers Won the Race to Capture the Mythical "White Bear", this engaging book unearths the spellbinding tale of a charismatic young Chinese American and American socialite Ruth Harkness, and their successful expedition into remote Sichuan in 1936 to recover a panda bear. The panda cub (though it lived only 16 months in the Brookfield Zoo) caused a sensation. The author, who had originally intended to write about Harkness, interviewed the elderly Quentin Young and his brother Jack for the book. (CHN166, $24.95)
China Adventure Map • National Geographic 2011 • MAP A double-sided, full-color map of China, at a useful scale of 1:4,375,000, which shows roads and cities. Printed on tear- and water-reistant paper. Two Sides. 39x27 inches. (CHN06, $11.95)
China Men • Maxine Hong Kingston LITERATURE • 1989 • PAPER • 308 PAGES A novel of three generations of Chinese men adjusting to life in America, drawn from experience and traditional Chinese stories. (CHN118, $15.95)
China North Map • Nelles MAP A detailed travel map of North China at a 1:1,750,000 scale. It covers Xinjing to Beijing, with city maps of Tianjin and Beijing and inset maps of the areas around Beijing and Xi'an. Two Sides. 20x40 inches. (CHN40, $13.95)
The New Shanghai, The Rocky Rebirth of China's Legendary City • Pamela Yatsko HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 298 PAGES Yatsko, a former contributor to the Far Eastern Economic Review, looks at the nature of Shanghai's cultural and economic renaissance and what it says about China present and future. (CHN140, $18.95)
The China Reader, The Reform Era • Orville Schell • David Shambaugh HISTORY • 1999 • PAPER • 553 PAGES This sourcebook on contemporary China includes first-hand material by Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, along with insightful essays by several scholars on the culture and politics of China over the last 25 years. Dean of the graduate school of journalism at Berkeley and a China scholar, Schell is also the author of Mandate of Heaven and Virtual Tibet. Co-editor and contributor David Shambaugh, professor at George Washington University, is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. (CHN224, $17.95)
China South Map • Nelles 2005 • MAP A detailed travel map of Southern China, from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the Yunnan Province, at a 1:1,500,000 scale. With city maps of Hon Kong, Macau and Guilin. Two Sides. 20x40 inches. (CHN27, $13.95)
China, Its History and Culture • W. Scott Morton HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 368 PAGES A concise survey of Chinese history, people and culture from the Neolithic to present times. Morton, who wrote a similar book on the history of Japan, weaves together politics, culture and history, and includes selections from literature and arts, anecdotes and illustrations. Aimed at the college student, the book is also appropriate for the traveler. (CHN22, $19.95)
The Chinese • Jasper Becker CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2002 • PAPER • 304 PAGES An insightful, up-to-date account of the contradictions, diversity and potential in contemporary Chinese society and economy, by a veteran journalist and astute observer. (CHN97, $24.99)
Chinese (Mandarin), Start Speaking Today! • Educational Services Corporation LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 1993 • AUDIO CD A 90-minute crash course in Mandarin featured in two compact discs and a phrasebook packaged in a vinyl sleeve. Geared for travelers, the course follows the foreign service method -- which focuses on dialogues and useful sentences instead of individual words. In each case, an English phrase is spoken once, and repeated in Mandarin twice. Topics include introductions, transportation, business and health. (CHN92, $24.95)
Chinese Art • Mary Tregear ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1997 • PAPER • 216 PAGES A quick, but surprisingly thorough survey of Chinese art, including calligraphy and painting, sculpture and ceramics, as well as garden design, architecture, and various crafts. Part of the "World of Art" series, it is illustrated throughout. (CHN153, $19.95)
Chinese Poetry, An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres • Wai-Lim Yip LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 360 PAGES Wai-Lim Yip combs the literature for the finest and more unusual examples of poems from Chinese traditions. (CHN174, $26.95)
Conquering the Desert of Death, Across the Taklamakan • Charles Blackmore • Peter Hopkirk EXPLORATION • 2008 • PAPER • 268 PAGES An account of Major Blackmore's extraordinary two-month-long, 780-mile trek across the high dunes of remote Xianjiang, first published in 1995. His Anglo-Chinese expedition was the first to cross the full length of the Tarim Basin. The sole woman in the team, Carolyn Ellis, was one of two expedition members to walk the entire route without once riding a camel. (CAS68, $16.95)
The Death of Woman Wang • Jonathan Spence LITERATURE • 1978 • PAPER • 169 PAGES The turbulent saga about a runaway wife who is murdered by her husband, set in 17th century China and written by one of the foremost western scholars on China. (CHN58, $14.00)
Did Marco Polo Go to China? • Frances Wood EXPLORATION • 1998 • PAPER • 208 PAGES A critical look at the manuscripts and evidence regarding this most famous of journeys, Wood's book raises fascinating questions as to the authenticity of the travel journals written while Marco Polo was in prison in Genoa. (CAS28, $38.00)
Don't Cry Tai Lake • Qiu Xiaolong MYSTERY • 2011 • HARD COVER • 336 PAGES Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is offered a bit of luxury by friends and supporters within the Party - a week's vacation at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, a week where he can relax, and recover, undisturbed by outside demands or disruptions. Unfortunately, the once beautiful Lake Tai, renowned for its clear waters, is now covered by fetid algae, its waters polluted by toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants. Then the director of one of the manufacturing plants responsible for the pollution is murdered and the leader of the local ecological group is the primary suspect of the local police. (CHN676, $24.99)
Dragon Lady, The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China • Sterling Seagrave BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1993 • PAPER • 601 PAGES Reappraises the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi and portrays a strong, complex woman struggling to keep her country from unraveling. (CHN229, $19.95)
Empress Orchid • Anchee Min LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 346 PAGES A novel of the glorious, decadent last days of 19th-Century Imperial China. Min (Red Azalea, Becoming Madame Mao) combines her tale of a young girl from the provinces who marries an emperor -- and then improbably becomes the Last Empress -- with a lovingly re-created portrait of life in the Forbidden City. Pearl Buck told a much more romanticized tale of the same remarkable woman in Imperial Woman. (CHN267, $14.00)
A Field Guide to the Birds of China • John MacKinnon • Karen Phillipps FIELD GUIDE • 2000 • PAPER • 586 PAGES A comprehensive field guide to the birds of China, featuring 128 color plates illustrating 1,300 species of birds, with introductory chapters on the history of ornithology in China, biogeography and conservation. Range maps are organized on adjacent pages to the illustrations. The book also includes a list of endemic, threatened and endangered species. Principal author John MacKinnon has also written "Wild China", "A Photoguide to the Birds of China" and "A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali." (CHN85, $124.00)
Five T'ang Poets • David Young LITERATURE • 1990 • PAPER A collection of T-ang poetry, chosen, edited and translated by David Young, by Li Shang-yin, Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu and Li Ho. (CHN157, $15.95)
Fodor's Hong Kong's 25 Best • Fodor's GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 128 PAGES A shirt-pocket guide to Hong Kong, this slim book includes an excellent map of the center of the city and essential information on its highlights, including restaurant recommendations and sightseeing -- all in a slipcover. (HKG09, $11.99)
Fodor's Shanghai • Fodor's Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 272 PAGES A practical guide in the popular series, filled with valuable information on accommodation, shopping, sights, and dining. (CHN543, $18.95)
The Forbidden City, Center of Imperial China • Gilles Beguin • Dominique Morel HISTORY • 1997 • PAPER • 144 PAGES This slim volume is packed with maps, archival photographs and illustrations. A surprisingly effective overview of Beijing's Imperial Court, with a useful chronology, and a carefully chosen selection of writings over the ages. Part of the acclaimed "Discoveries" series of references that fit in your pocket, for travelers it's an indispensable and handy guide to the Forbidden City and the history of Imperial China. (CHN32, $15.95)
A Fortune-Teller Told Me, Earthbound Travels in the Far East • Tizanio Terzani TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2002 • PAPER • 371 PAGES Grounded for a year, the peripatetic journalist (Italian-born, writing in German, and based in India) sets off by any other means to complete his rounds through Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Mongolia, China, Japan and other far-flung destinations. The result is this warm, anecdotal account of the character of the region. It's got to be the book most recommended to us on contemporary Asia. (SEA35, $16.00)
Frommer's Shanghai • J.D. Brown GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 328 PAGES A practical guide in the popular series, strong on where to eat, sleep and shop. (CHN220, $19.99)
Frommer's Shanghai Day by Day • Graham Bond GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER A compact shirt pocket guide, ideal for a short visit, featuring remarkably good suggestions for everything from food, hotels and neighborhoods to shopping. With a separate foldout map of the city center. (CHN591, $12.99)
Fruitful Sites, Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China • Craig Clunas HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 240 PAGES This book will appeal to serious students of garden history and landscape art. Written by an art historian who teaches at the University of Sussex, it's a study of Ming-era (1450-1650) gardens in the Jiangnan Valley of the Yangtze, especially in wealthy Suzhou and to a lesser extent in Hangzhou. With 48 illustrations. (CHN175, $26.95)
Gardens in China • Peter Valder NATURAL HISTORY • 2002 • HARD COVER • 400 PAGES A gorgeous book featuring over 500 color photographs of Chinese gardens in 11 provinces. The Australian horticulturalist Peter Valder first traveled to China in 1980, his imagination fired by 19th-century plant hunters' accounts of adventure. He discusses gardening in Yunnan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, as well as on Hainan island. (CHN176, $59.95)
The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention • Robert Temple • Joseph Needham HISTORY • 2007 • PAPER • 288 PAGES An abridged popular edition of Needham's original, monumental Science & Civilization in China, organized by invention and illustrated throughout with color photographs, diagrams and drawings. (CHN82, $29.95)
Giant Pandas in the Wild, Saving an Endangered Species • Lu Zhi NATURAL HISTORY • 2002 • HARD COVER • 128 PAGES • COMING IN In this important new book, Dr. Lu Zhi offers an indepth portrait of the giant panda and international conservation efforts to protect the panda and its habitat in China. A researcher since 1985 and former coordinator of WWF's panda program in China, Dr. Zhi chronicles the social lives and population dynamics of 20 individuals in a number of reserves, both in text and photographs. With a foreword by Claude Martin, Director General of WWF-International, and excellent color photos by George Schaller and Lu Zhi. (CHN173, $35.00)
God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan • Jonathan Spence HISTORY • 1997 • PAPER • 430 PAGES (CHN178, $18.95)
The Golden Days • Cao Xueqin • David Hawkes LITERATURE • 1974 • PAPER • 544 PAGES Volume One of The Dream of the Red Chamber, an epic family tale first published in 1793, (still one of China's favorite novels) beautifully translated, edited and with an introduction by David Hawkes. The Golden Days is the first book in a five-volume masterpiece which follows the fate of the Jia family and the magical stone of the title. It's an absorbing romantic tale, often called the greatest of Chinese novels, as interesting for its commentary on culture, aethestics, religion and world view as for the story. (CHN223, $17.00)
The Good Earth • Pearl Buck LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 379 PAGES The second of Buck's more than 70 books, The Good Earth has shaped American attitudes toward China and its people for many years. A modern classic presented in this edition with critical notes and a long introduction, it won her the Pulitzer Prize upon its publication in 1931. Drawing heavily on her personal experience as a young newlywed in rural China, it is the plainly told story of a poor farmer and his stalwart wife. The book captures the daily life of China's poorest people, very different from the usual exotica that most writers of her day were producing on the "inscrutable Chinese." (CHN15, $15.00)
Governing China, From Revolution Through Reform • Kenneth Lieberthal HISTORY • 1997 • PAPER • 461 PAGES A scholarly political history of China in the 20th century, detailed and informative. (CHN112, $28.50)
Hong Kong • Jan Morris CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1997 • PAPER • 384 PAGES • FAVORITE It's always a pleasure to find a destination that Jan Morris has written about. In this book, she covers the whole city in typical fashion -- enumerating the many personal pleasures she found there, as well as deftly describing the most important aspects of Hong Kong's history and culture. Reissued with a new final chapter on the city's return to China. (HKG02, $17.00)
Hong Kong Map • Nelles MAP A detailed, colorful folded map of Hong Kong, scale 1:22,500. Two Sides. 20x40 inches. (HKG15, $13.95)
Hungry Ghosts, Mao's Secret Famine • Jasper Becker HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 352 PAGES After digging through academic studies and incorporating survivor accounts, Jaspar Becker has produced the definitive work on the devastating famine that overtook China in the 1950s and 1960s. Brought about by the Mao's attempt to redistribute food, this mass starvation caused the death of tens of millions. (CHN99, $21.99)
The Importance of Living • Lin Yutang RELIGION • 1998 • PAPER • 462 PAGES Lin Yutang uses ancient Chinese texts to illustrate his path to a satisfying life, which he believes can be found through relaxation, friendship and the simple enjoyment of everyday existence. It's an optimistic book, full of short proverbs, anecdotes and witty asides on the enjoyment of travel, nature, culture and other aspects of human existence. Originally published in 1937. (CHN121, $16.99)
In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture • Geremie R. Barme CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2000 • PAPER • 512 PAGES Focusing on the years since the 1989 Tiananmen protest, Barme examines the dialectic between official culture produced by the Chinese government and the popular "unofficial" culture and counterculture of the urban population. (CHN88, $32.50)
Insight Guide China • Manfred Morganstern GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 411 PAGES In its hallmark style, this Insight Guide combines short essays on the history, politics and culture of China with hundreds of color photographs. It's a short whirlwind introduction to the country. The book begins with a brief history of the Middle Kingdom, then ventures out into the countryside and through the halls of the Forbidden City. The second half presents each region of China with pages on each of the major sites, then concludes with some practical travel information and listings. (CHN05, $24.99)
Insight Pocket Guide Beijing • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2005 • PAPER • 92 PAGES This convenient, slim volume features color photographs, many maps (including a handy fold-out map of the city), good short descriptions of major points of interest, and other practical information. (CHN26, $13.95)
Iron and Silk • Mark Salzman TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1990 • PAPER • 211 PAGES Salzman gets himself to Changsha in the mid-1980s on the pretext of teaching English to Chinese doctors. His real mission, however, is to become a kung fu master. In this wonderfully readable travelogue he conveys a sense of contemporary life, its realities and frustrations -- and of his growing understanding of an alien culture. A major subplot is his ongoing relationship with Pan, the mentor to this awkward and overly enthusiastic American martial arts student. (CHN52, $15.00)
Knopf Mapguide Shanghai • Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2005 • PAPER • 48 PAGES Full-color foldout maps make this guidebook a handy and practical way to find information on where to go and what to do in the city. (CHN283, $10.95)
Kowloon Tong, A Novel of Hong Kong • Paul Theroux LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 248 PAGES Betty Mullard, representing the old guard in Hong Kong, receives an offer from Mr. Hung on his family business. With its strong sense of place and contemporary setting in Hong Kong at a time of transition, this fast-paced novel is an illuminating and imaginative look at the city. (HKG12, $15.95)
Last Chance to See • Douglas Adams • Mark Carwardine NATURAL HISTORY • 1992 • PAPER • 222 PAGES Sponsored by BBC radio, Douglas Adams and Mark Cowardine traveled to Zaire, New Zealand, China, Mauritius and other far-flung places in search of endangered animals. (CON04, $16.00)
The Last Emperor • Bernardo Bertolucci HISTORY • 1987 • DVD Bernardo Bertolucci's rendering of the true story of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, the last emperor of China's Ching Dynasty. Told in flashback, the film begins at Pu Yi's involuntary initiation as emperor in 1908 at age three, and continues through his entire reign in the Forbidden City until his death in 1967. Pu Yi witnesses the dynamic changes of the modernizing empire, experiences the temptations of ultimate power, and is seduced by the Western lifestyle of his Scottish tutor (Peter O'Toole). The film won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. (CHN225, $29.95)
The Last Panda • George Schaller NATURAL HISTORY • 1993 • PAPER • 291 PAGES The great naturalist George Schaller spent almost five years in the wild in Sichuan province studying the panda in the 1980s. This book is both his description of the great panda in nature, and an eloquent plea for how to save the species in the wild. With 16 color plates. (CHN24, $17.50)
Leaving Mother Lake • Yang Erche Namu • Christine Mathieu BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2004 • PAPER • 320 PAGES In this entrancing memoir, Namu, a Chinese pop sensation, recounts her childhood on the shores of Lake Lugu in remote Yunnan. Her culture, the Mosuo, is matrilineal, where women have unusual freedom and power. Namu recounts too the tension between traditions and her own escape from her mother's home and village life in search of a career in music. Cowritten with anthropologist Christine Mathieu. (CHN270, $14.99)
Legacies, A Chinese Mosaic • Betty Bao Lord HISTORY • 1991 • PAPER • 242 PAGES A memoir of contemporary China, especially interesting for its critical perspective on Chinese society and culture during the "China Spring" of 1989. Bao incorporates interviews and testimonies of friends and colleagues in her narrative. Dedicated "For The Chinese People," the novelist author born in China (who also wrote Spring Moon) is unstinting in her criticism of Chinese policies and practices. Wife of a former American ambassador to China, the author now lives in the United States. (CHN84, $19.00)
Lonely Planet Beijing • Damian Harper GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 272 PAGES In its hallmark style, this practical guide to Beijing by Lonely Planet features maps, an overview of culture, history and nature, and a good deal of nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. There's even a section on the locally spoken dialect of Mandarin. With color photographs and excellent travel information. (CHN47, $19.99)
Lonely Planet China • Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 1048 PAGES An impressively comprehensive guide to travel in China, packed with detailed information on excursions, hotels and restaurants. With 2,200 maps and a section of color photographs. (CHN39, $31.99)
Lonely Planet Discover China • Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 448 PAGES Focusing on must-see and memorable places and experiences, this all color guide by the discerning editors at Lonely Planet, featuring hundreds of color photographs and maps, includes suggested tours and itineraries along with not-to-be-missed places to stay, eat, shop and see. (CHN674, $27.99)
Lonely Planet Hong Kong & Macau City Guide • Nicko Goncharoff • Damian Harper GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 380 PAGES A practical, comprehensive guide to Hong Kong, with maps, a Chinese language section and plenty of information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. Written for independent travelers. (HKG14, $21.99)
Lonely Planet Southwest China • Thomas Huhti • Bradley Mayhew GUIDEBOOK • 2007 • PAPER • 536 PAGES • COMING IN In its hallmark style, this practical guide to South West China by Lonely Planet features maps, a good overview of culture, history and nature, and much nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. With color photographs and excellent travel information for Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou. (CHN71, $24.99)
Lonely Planet Taiwan • Andrew Bender GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 392 PAGES A travel guide to Taipei and Taiwan noteworthy for its attention to practical detail on food, accommodations and excursions. (CHN67, $26.99)
Looking for Chengdu, A Woman's Adventure in China • Hill Gates TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1999 • PAPER • 272 PAGES Anthropologist Hill Gates sets off on a series of excursions through the inland province of Sichuan in search of a deeper understanding of the Chinese people. A feminist, Gates is especially curious to learn how the economic boom has effected the women of Sichuan, which was the birthplace of Chinese economic reforms in the 1970s. Along the countryside she meets scholars, sailors, patrons of a Tibetan dance-hall and women running family firms. It's a travelogue rich in anecdotes and perceptive observations of contemporary China. (CHN74, $26.95)
Mantles of Merit: Chin Textiles from Myanmar, India and Bangladesh • David Fraser • Barbara Fraser ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2005 • HARD COVER An abundantly illustrated study of the textiles of the Chin peoples of southern and eastern Asia. With more than 600 color illustrations. (ASA46, $60.00)
The Mao Case • Qiu Xiaolong MYSTERY • 2010 • PAPER • 304 PAGES Evocatively set in the elegant 1930s Shanghai mansion of a woman who may once have been Mao's mistress, this sixth deft book in the Inspector Chen series (subtitled Sex, Lies and the Forbidden City), finds the always discreet Chief Inspector Chen Cao probing the secrets of Mao-era China. (CHN539, $14.99)
Mao's China and After, A History of the People's Republic • Maurice Meisner HISTORY • 1999 • PAPER • 587 PAGES A popular text, now in its third edition. Meisner, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, is a fair-minded, insightful -- and lucid -- guide to the tumultuous history of China since the Chinese Communists came to power in 1949. (CHN165, $36.95)
Mao, The Unknown Story • Jung Chang • John Halliday BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2006 • PAPER • 814 PAGES In this no-holds-barred biography, the author of Wild Swans and her historian husband reveal Mao as a brutal, power-hungry monster with close ties to Joseph Stalin. Ten years in the making, their extensive research demolishes the myths of Mao a great leader and man of the people. (CHN301, $20.00)
Mao: A Biography • Ross Terrill BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1999 • PAPER • 571 PAGES A no-holds-barred biography of the Chinese leader and his times -- well written, scholarly and authoritative. Terrill, a sinophile, combines journalism, history and anecdote to create a lively portrait of the man and his country. Originally published in 1980 and revised for this edition, the book has sold more than a million copies in China. Terrill is also the author of Madame Mao: The White-Boned Demon." (CHN51, $33.95)
Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World • John Larner EXPLORATION • 2001 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A scholarly, insightful study of Marco Polo's famous travel account -- and its impact on European ideas and politics, particularly its influence on cartographers and explorers. The author looks too at the circumstances of Marco Polo's life and travels, arguing that Marco Polo really did visit China -- and that he must have had a highly talented co-author in Rustichello da Pisa. (EXP22, $21.00)
Michelin Shanghai, Must Sees • Gwen Cannon GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 160 PAGES A compact guide to the sights of Shanghai, organized thematically. With practical advice on what to do for fun, where to stay, where to eat and what to do with kids. (CHN634, $11.99)
Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture • Sarah Handler ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2005 • HARD COVER • 233 PAGES A beautifully illustrated and authoritative overview of Ming furniture and its architectural setting by art historian Sarah Handler, who specializes in Chinese furniture, architecture and related arts. With 50 black-and-white architectural drawings and 60 full-color photos of Ming furniture from private and museum collections around the world. (CHN318, $50.00)
Minor Heresies, Major Departures, A China Mission Boyhood • John Jenkins Espey HISTORY • 1994 • HARD COVER • 357 PAGES An American boy, son of Presbyterian missionaries, was born in Shanghai early in this century. The boy lived two lives, one within the pious church compound, the other along the canal and in the alleys of a traditional Chinese city. There he faced the alley brats' Lady Bandit, heard the shrill screams of a child's foot-binding, learned rank obscenities from passing boatmen, and, while still in short pants, chewed Sen-Sen and ogled snake-charmers in the old Native City. He sailed up the Yangtze to attend boarding school, and along with his Boy Scout patrol, met Chiang Kai-shek. And when John Espey grew up, he wrote about his years in China. This memoir is the story of those years, and while it is a wry, affectionate account, it also conveys an often overlooked picture of China in the years before communism. Seen through the eyes of a child, the interplay of religion, commerce, and American colonialism that took place during this period is revealed more tellingly -- and more lightheartedly --than in many an analysis by an "old China hand." (CHN585, $55.00)
Monkey, A Journey to the West • David Kherdian LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 224 PAGES The 16th-century Chinese epic of adventure and pilgrimage on the Silk Road, brilliantly retold by David Kheridan. It's the wild tale of a rogue-trickster and his travels to India via Central Asia in the company of a Buddhist pilgrim -- and a classic allegory on the nature of spirituality. Famously popular in China, the story is the also the source for many very odd movies and television programs. (ASA32, $16.95)
Moon Beijing and Shanghai • Helena Iveson GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 350 PAGES A practical guide in the popular series. (CHN537, $17.95)
Mountain of Fame, Portraits in Chinese History • John Wills HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 424 PAGES An intriguing, novel approach to Chinese history. Instead of marching through the dynasties, Wells illuminates themes and continuities within Chinese tradition through 20 representative personalities. His book is a series of biographies, wonderfully told, of statesman, poets and philosophers through the ages. He tells of great events through the lives of individual Chinese. It's an excellent, immediately accessible approach to history. (CHN10, $29.95)
Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha • Dorothy Gilman MYSTERY • 1988 • PAPER Grandma Pollifax, the CIA agent, is at it again, hot on the trail of jewel thieves, drug dealers and murderers in the city of Hong Kong. Part of the popular series, this mystery is great fun. (HKG17, $6.99)
National Geographic China • Damian Harper GUIDEBOOK • 2012 • PAPER • 400 PAGES A generously illustrated guide to China with the usual National Geographic attention to maps and photographs, covering the big cities and the Yangtze, as well as southern, western and northeastern China in unusual depth. Harper writes with authority in a lively, opinionated style; no surprise, since he is also the co-author of three guides on the region for Lonely Planet. With a 50-page appendix of practical travel information. (CHN163, $27.95)
News from Tartary • Peter Fleming TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1999 • PAPER • 384 PAGES A rousing, ironic account of Fleming's 3500-mile trek in the 1930s from Peking to the province of Sinkiang and onwards to India. (CAS46, $18.95)
Noble House • James Clavell LITERATURE • 2009 • PAPER • 1376 PAGES Another Clavell novel set in Asia, this one finds Russian, Chinese and English businessmen and intelligence agents caught up in a struggle to control the largest trading house in 1960s Hong Kong. Though the action only covers about one week, the book is an enormous one, filled with Clavell trademarks: adventure, romance and historical detail. (HKG16, $18.00)
Northeastern China Map • Nelles MAP A double-sided map of the northeastern section of China (including portions of the Russian Far East) at a 1:1.5 scale. Two Sides. 20x40 inches. (CHN172, $13.95)
Oasis Identities, Uyghur Nationalism Along China's Silk Road • Justin Jon Rudelson HISTORY • 1997 • PAPER • 224 PAGES Rudelson draws on extensive fieldwork in the oasis of Turpan in this scholarly study of the movement for a pan-Uyghur identity in Xinjiang. Rudelson, executive director of the Institute for Global Chinese Affairs at the University of Maryland and an anthropologist, is also the author of the Lonely Planet Central Asia Phrasebook as well as the Hebrew Phrasebook and Mandarin Phrasebook. (CAS92, $29.50)
Odyssey Guide China • Charis Chan • Peter Neville GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 440 PAGES A handsomely illustrated compact guide with suggested activities in both China's major cities and some remote provinces. With chapters on the pronunciation of Chinese names, Chinese opera, calligraphy, and art. With 15 maps, hundreds of photographs -- and featuring all 31 World Heritage Sites in China. (CHN87, $19.95)
The Open Empire, A History of China to 1600 • Valerie Hansen HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 458 PAGES A scholarly account of traditional Chinese civilizations for a university audience. Hansen depicts the empire as heterogeneous, vibrant, and open to the outside world. It eschews the more conventional histories, which orient themselves around the dynasties. (CHN138, $57.00)
Oracle Bones • Peter Hessler HISTORY • 2007 • PAPER • 512 PAGES Peter Hessler (River Town) captures the confounding pace of change in these tales of travel and conversation in contemporary China. The Beijing correspondent for the New Yorker with a depth of knowledge and love of the place, Hessler draws on his familiarity with the country, linguistic ability and his many friends for this penetrating report from the field. Hessler also writes for National Geographic. (CHN316, $15.99)
The Origins of the Cultural Revolution, Volume 1: The Contradictions among the People 1956-1957 • Roderick MacFarquhar HISTORY • 1974 • PAPER • 439 PAGES The first volume in a trilogy of works tracing Mao's Great Leap Forward from 1956 to 1966. This book looks at the first two years, when the stage was set for the radical changes that would follow. (CHN115, $33.50)
Pandas • Heather Angel NATURAL HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 72 PAGES A series of photographs of pandas, taken in their natural habitat. Most of the book is concerned with the Giant Pandas of Wolong, but a short section on the red panda is also included. Information on natural history is included, but the book's real strength is its gorgeous color images. (CHN137, $17.95)
Passions of the Cut Sleeve, The Male Homosexual Tradition in China • Bret Hinsch LITERATURE • 1992 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A well written, scholarly survey of the traditions of same-sex male love across 3,000 years of Chinese literature -- much livlier than the title would indicate. Hinsch draws from dynastic histories, erotic novels, popular Buddhist tracts, love poetry, legal cases, and joke books in this fascinating overview. (CHN167, $26.95)
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Chinese (Cantonese) • Pimsleur Language Method LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2005 • AUDIO CD Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Cantonese, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (CHN279, $19.95)
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Chinese (Mandarin) • Pimsleur Language Method LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2005 • AUDIO CD Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Mandarin, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (CHN280, $19.95)
Precious Records, Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century • Susan Mann HISTORY • 1997 • PAPER • 368 PAGES Respected scholar Mann seeks to give voice to the underrepresented women of Qing China. (CHN139, $27.95)
The Private Life of Chairman Mao, The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician • Dr. Li Zhisui BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1996 • PAPER • 682 PAGES 22 years in the life of Mao Tse Tung (and communist China), as seen through the eyes of his doctor. Dr. Li Zhisui offers insight into his own life, Mao's life and the state of China from the 1950's to the 1970's in this historical memoir. (CHN100, $22.95)
Red China Blues, My Long March from Mao to Now • Jan Wong BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1997 • PAPER • 368 PAGES A Beijing correspondent from 1988-1994, Jan Wong first traveled to China in 1972 at the height of the cultural revolution, a wide-eyed 19-year-old rebel from Canada in love with the ideas of Mao. The first half of this eye-opening, laugh-out-loud memoir tells of her experiences in the "hermetically sealed bubble of Maoism" as one of two westerners to attend Beijing University. The second half of the book is a first-hand account of the recent era of reform in China. Told with finely honed irony, it gives us what the "New York Times" review called "front row seats at Mao's Theater of the Absurd." (CHN37, $15.95)
Red Dust, A Path Through China • Ma Jian • Flora Drew TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2002 • PAPER • 324 PAGES An astounding, thoughtful memoir of an urban poet, painter and writer on the road to Tibet in the mid-1980s. At low ebb personally, and censured by his propaganda work unit, 30-year-old Ma Jian abandons his disintegrating life in Beijing for a remarkable three-year trek south and west to Guizhou province, Burma and Tibet. This first-rate account offers a vibrant portrait of Deng's People's Republic of China, and an extremely useful testimonial to the plight of Chinese artists therein. With kudos by Barbara Crossette, Jonathan Spence and others, this first book by Jian, who now lives in London, is drawing a lot of attention. (CHN150, $16.00)
Religions of China in Practice • Donald S. Lopez Jr. RELIGION • 1996 • PAPER • 472 PAGES An anthology of original teachings, writing and commentary on the three religions of China: Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, with a focus on how they overlap and interact with each other. It's an excellent survey for the traveler with an interest in religious practice and history. (CHN127, $42.00)
Religions of China, The World as a Living System • David L. Overmyer RELIGION • 1998 • PAPER • 125 PAGES This brief primer, geared for a general audience, covers the religions of China from early beliefs to Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. (CHN154, $16.50)
The Retreat of the Elephants, An Environmental History of China • Mark Elvin NATURAL HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 564 PAGES A comprehensive history of environmental change and its impact upon Chinese culture and politics. Mark Elvin has written prolifically on China, and in this book he focuses on the damage done to China's environment through war, modernization and technological developments, including a farming method which drove the elephant out of its natural habitat. Elvin draws on diverse literature to trace changes over the course of 3,000 years. (CHN221, $24.00)
Riding the Iron Rooster • Paul Theroux TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 528 PAGES An account of utterly exhausting, exasperating travels mostly by rail throughout China for an entire year. Not surprisingly, this is one of Mr. Theroux's testier books. He does, however, travel to every corner of the huge country, including memorable passages on Mongolia, Xinjiang, Manchuria and Tibet (where he ended his journey). Theroux combines offhand observation, telling detail, interviews and snatches of history. Once you get past the lack of heat and hygiene, seedy hotels and Theroux's grumbling, this book is a finely detailed portrait of the diversity of Chinese landscapes and people. (CHN133, $15.95)
The Rise of Modern China • Immanuel C.Y. Hsu HISTORY • 1997 • PAPER • 976 PAGES A comprehensive, scholarly history of China from the 17th century through the present. Hsu examines economic and social institutions, internal and international affairs, and political and intellectual movements. (CHN62, $74.95)
The River at the Center of the World • Simon Winchester EXPLORATION • 2004 • PAPER • 410 PAGES • FAVORITE In this wide-ranging journalistic overview of the Yangtze (it's a great river of a book itself) veteran journalist Simon Winchester travels upstream into the heartland of China. He and his guide log 4,000 miles over many months, interviewing peasants and politicians throughout the region. It's a remarkable, wonderfully written portrait: an excellent introduction to the great river that is at the symbolic and literal heart of China. Long based in Hong Kong and a frequent commentator on things Asian, Winchester writes about the character of the river itself, and the people and places along its banks, with an easy grace. First published in 1996. (CHN31, $16.00)
River Town, Two Years on the Yangtze • Peter Hessler BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2006 • PAPER • 432 PAGES Hessler's compelling, personal account of life as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fuling, where foreigners are a curiosity, explores the culture, traditions and ideas of an isolated world. Fuling is located on the Yangtze in Sichuan, which was partially submerged with t (CHN125, $14.99)
Rough Guide China • Simon Lewis • David Leffman GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 1284 PAGES A no-nonsense, opinionated travel guide in the British series aimed at independent-minded travelers. In addition to detailed travel infomration, the handbook includes maps, a 60-page cultural and historical overview and a great bibliography. (CHN78, $29.99)
Rough Guide Shanghai • Simon Lewis GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A compact, practical guide to the city, jammed with maps, site plans, suggested sightseeing and recommended restaurants and hotels. (CHN488, $27.50)
The Sand Pebbles • Richard McKenna LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 624 PAGES Life aboard U.S. Navy gunboat on the Yangtze River in the early 20th century is the focus of this reprint of a now-classic novel; it follows mate Jake Holman, stationed on said gunboat. Steve McQueen starred as Holman in the terrific 1966 movie. (CHN147, $24.95)
Selected Stories of Lu Hsun • Hsun Lu • William Lyell LITERATURE • 1975 • PAPER • 255 PAGES A collection of 18 stories by an important modern Chinese writer (1881-1936), including "A Madman's Diary." (CHN122, $15.95)
The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World • Chris Scarre ARCHAEOLOGY • 1999 • HARD COVER • 304 PAGES A comprehensive, illustrated overview of the great monuments of the ancient world, much expanded from the original seven wonders to include other significant structures. With a dual focus on the monuments themselves and how they were built, the book includes among others: Petra, the Giza plateau, the Parthenon, Abu Simbel, Nazca, Easter Island, and the Great Wall. With maps, "fact files," diagrams, and photographs. (GEN92, $40.00)
Shanghai Triad • Zhang Yimou CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2009 • DVD A provincial boy related to a Shanghai crime family is recruited by his uncle into cosmopolitan Shanghai in the 1930s to be a servant to a ganglord's mistress. (CHN646, $14.99)
The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 1 • Joseph Needham • Colin A. Ronan HISTORY • 1978 • PAPER • 337 PAGES The first entry in a multi-volume history of science and engineering in China, covering up through the medieval period. This is an abridged version of the original text, but it still provides a detailed overview. (CHN120, $75.00)
The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang • Sally Wriggins TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2003 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A nicely illustrated account of an extraordinary, 16-year trek from Xi'an to India by way of Central Asia in search of the origins of Buddhism by Xuan-Zang, the famous 7th-century Chinese monk. Modern travelers will find the descriptions of Buddhist sites and shrines of much interest, including the original accounts of Dunhuang, Samarkand the now-obliterated Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. With maps and photographs. (ASA31, $25.00)
The Silk Roads, A Route and Planning Guide • Paul Wilson GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 447 PAGES A compact, practical guide to the network of ancient trade routes extending from Turkey and the Mideast across Central Asia to China. With 50 maps and town plans. Excerpts from the book and others in the British series are online at www.trailblazer-guides.com. The book is a revised and expanded version of Silk Route by Rail. (CAS21, $24.95)
A Single Pebble • John Hersey LITERATURE • 1989 • PAPER • 181 PAGES The most famous novel set on the Yangtze. Pulitzer Prize-winner Hersey writes with deceptive simplicity of an American engineer traveling on the Great River in search of a dam site. In this short, controlled novel, the river itself is as much of a character as the Chinese trackers who haul a traditional Yangtze junk up the river through rapids, floodwater and narrow gorges. Think of Hemingway on the Yangtze. It's a haunting, prophetic book that evokes a traditional way of life. (CHN03, $14.00)
Sky Burial, An Epic Love Story of Tibet • Xinran LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 206 PAGES Xinran turns the tale of a young Chinese woman's lifelong search for her husband in Tibet, based on an 1994 interview, into a powerful, gut-wrenching tale, evoking the customs, traditions and challenges of contemporary Tibet. Shu Wen's story intersects with some of the darker moments in Chinese history, including the years under Mao's rule and the invasion of Tibet by the People's Liberation Army. (CHN282, $14.95)
The Small Woman • Alan Burgess BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1996 • HARD COVER • 221 PAGES A biography of Gladys Aylward, a missionary responsible for leading more than 500 children over the mountains of northern China to safety during the Japanese occupation of World War II. (CHN77, $35.95)
The Soong Dynasty • Sterling Seagrave HISTORY • 1986 • PAPER • 560 PAGES The epic story of the Soong family, one the most powerful and influential in 20th-century China. This well researched book often reads more like fiction than history, as it peels back layers of political and familial intrigue. (CHN114, $18.99)
South of the Clouds, Tales from Yunnan • Lucien Miller ANTHOLOGY • 1997 • PAPER • 342 PAGES Featuring memorable tales from throughout the Yunnan Province, this book showcases 54 wonderfully insightful and entertaining stories. The collection also includes an overview of the places and people of Yunnan. It is an excellent introduction to the province. (CHN45, $32.95)
The State of China Atlas • Robert Benewick • Stephanie Donald REFERENCE • 2009 • PAPER • 128 PAGES A survey of social, political and economic indicators, boldy presented in colorful maps. It's a visual synopsis of change in China. (CHN68, $19.95)
Streetlife China • Michael Dutton ANTHOLOGY • 1999 • PAPER • 320 PAGES A scholarly collection of essays about the realities of living in modern-day China. The book covers a wide range of social, cultural and political subjects, and its focus lies in the changing concept of human rights and how it differs in the Eastern and Western societies. By examining such minute phenomena as the advent of tattoos in Chinese popular culture and broader issues like the effects of Mao Zedong on modern life, the book presents a comprehensive picture of the contemporary society told from a multitude of perspectives. (CHN222, $36.00)
Taiwan and Taipei Map • ITMB 2000 • MAP A full color travelers map with the city of Taipei on one side and all of Taiwan on the other at a scale of 1:386,000. One Side. 39x27 inches. (TWN03, $12.95)
Taiwan, A New History • Murray A. Rubinstein HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 576 PAGES Rubenstein and academic colleagues from North America, Europe, and Asia cover the geographic setting, politics, society and culture of Taiwan, and especially its relationship to China, in a series of related essays in this scholarly history. (TWN01, $45.95)
Tales of a Chinese Grandmother • Malthe Hasselriis • Frances Carpenter LITERATURE • 1991 • PAPER • 261 PAGES Stories within stories, this engaging book is not quite a novel, nor quite a collection of folktales. Written in 1937 by a westerner who had traveled throughout China, the book details daily life in the Ling household "many years ago, before new ways came to the Flowery Kingdom of China". Presiding over the household is Grandmother Ling, who tells her grandchildren the 27 folktales which form the bulk of this book. Forgive the author's somewhat antiquated ethnographic tendencies, and you'll find this a charming, attic treasure of a read. (CHN156, $8.95)
The Tarim Mummies, Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West • J.P. Mallory • Victor H. Mair ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2008 • PAPER • 190 PAGES A provocative, magnificently illustrated account of the Tarim mummies, the Bronze Age inhabitants of the Taklamakan Desert along the Silk Road. The authors discuss in depth what is known of the culture, genetics, textiles, language and, most interestingly, the cultural affinities of these tall, blue-eyed people. (CAS58, $36.40)
Three Gorges of the Yangtze River • Raynor Shaw • Judy Bonavia GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 248 PAGES Compact, illustrated and up-to-date, this Odyssey Guide focuses on the 120-mile-long Three Gorges section of the Yangtzi, including Chongqing, Yichang and Wuhan. With 12 color maps and diagrams. (CHN368, $22.95)
Three Gorges of the Yangtze River • Raynor Shaw • Judy Bonavia GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 248 PAGES Compact, illustrated and up-to-date, this Odyssey Guide focuses on the 120-mile-long Three Gorges section of the Yangtzi, including Chongqing, Yichang and Wuhan. With 12 color maps and diagrams. (CHN368, $22.95)
Three Kingdoms, A Historical Novel • Lo Kuan Chung • Moss Roberts ANTHOLOGY • 1990 • PAPER • 500 PAGES First published in the 14th-century, this epic saga is a compilation of fact and fiction based on ancient storytelling traditions. It's a fantastic tale of heroes and villains, monsters and wizards, fighting for the control of China during the last days of the Han Dynasty (150 AD). Much of the action centers on the middle and upper Yangtze -- and some familiarity with the rival kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu will much enhance your appreciation of a voyage along its banks. This abridged edition is translated and edited by Moss Roberts, who also translated the full three-volume edition. (CHN57, $28.95)
Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting • Richard Barnhart • Yang Xin ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2002 • PAPER • 400 PAGES An oversize, nicely illustrated survey of Chinese art traditions with contributions by leading specialists and 300 well chosen color illustrations. Wu Hung, a professor at the University of Chicago, contributed the chapter on the earliest period, including a good overview of the caves at Dunhuang. (CHN152, $55.00)
Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China • Arthur Waley RELIGION • 1982 • PAPER • 216 PAGES An elegantly written, classic introduction to traditional Chinese philosophy. Waley, who provides lyrical translations, discusses three great threads in this slim book: Daoism, Realism and the writings of Meniscus (closely related to Confucianism). Originally published in 1953, Waley's entertaining anecdotes, evident humor and aphorisms, enliven the text. The first section is entitled In the Realm of Nothing Whatever. (CHN164, $18.95)
Thunder from the East, Portrait of a Rising Asia • Nicholas Kristoff • Sheryl WuDunn CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2000 • PAPER • 377 PAGES From the pens of a husband-and-wife team of Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondents for the "New York Times," comes a study of the changing face of Asia's economy and culture. It's an ambituous book, organized thematically with alternating chapters by Kristoff and WuDunn. The book combines interviews, newspaper-style profiles, statistics and anecdote. (ASA24, $15.95)
Thunder Out of China • Theodore H. White • Annalee Jacoby • Harrison Salisbury HISTORY • 1980 • PAPER • 331 PAGES A classic account of the revolutionary developments in China in the years surrounding World War II, highly readbale and illuminating. Originally published in 1946. (CHN113, $16.50)
Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding • Lenore Look • Yumi Heo LITERATURE • 2006 • HARD COVER • 40 PAGES • YOUNG READERS (Age 4-8) Chinese wedding traditions come alive in this story of a mischief-making Chinese-American girl who worries that her uncle will forget about her after he marries. With charming mixed-media illustrations. (CHN348, $17.99)
Waiting • Ha Jin LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 308 PAGES A spare, haunting story of of an ineffectual military doctor who tries for 18 years to divorce his peasant wife so he can marry a more sophisticated nurse at his military hospital. Along the way, the story is greatly evocative of quotidian life in China during the Cultural Revolution and after. Though the main characters are not all that likeable, and the story is somewhat tragic, Ha Jin succeeds utterly in communicating the travails of finding love in China during these years. Winner of the National Book Award. (CHN80, $15.00)
Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China • Stevan Harrell CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2002 • PAPER • 370 PAGES A scholarly ethnography of the peoples of Southwest China, including the Nuosu (Yi), Prmi, Naze, and Han. With detailed case studies. (CHN271, $24.95)
When Red is Black • Qiu Xiaolong MYSTERY • 2005 • PAPER • 320 PAGES The third installment in the Inspector Chen series, this is the best-known of Qiu's compelling, subversive tales, steeped in the atmosphere and culture Shanghai. (CHN411, $15.00)
Wild China • John MacKinnon • Nigel Hicks NATURAL HISTORY • 1996 • HARD COVER • 208 PAGES An informative, up-to-date survey of the wildlife and natural history of China in a handsome, oversize volume. The book, published in association with World Wildlife Fund, features excellent maps and 400 superb color photographs by Gerald Cubitt. The detailed text covers the enormous range of habitats and natural areas in China with a particular focus on reserves (and the panda). (CHN19, $39.95)
Wild West China, The Taming of Xinjiang • Christian Tyler CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2004 • HARD COVER • 336 PAGES Despite a savage landscape and climate, Xinjiang has a rich past: sand-buried cities, painted cave shrines, rare creatures, and wonderfully preserved mummies of European appearance. Their descendants, the Uighurs, still farm the tranquil oases that ring the dreaded Taklamakan, the world's second largest sand desert, and the Kazakh and Kirghiz herdsmen still roam the mountains. The region's history, however, has been punctuated by violence, usually provoked by ambitious outsiders--nomad chieftains from the north, Muslim emirs from Central Asia, Russian generals, or warlords from inner China. The Chinese regard the far west as a barbarian land. Only in the 1760s did they subdue it, and even then their rule was repeatedly broken. Compared with the Russians' conquest of Siberia, or the Americans' trek west, China's colonization of Xinjiang has been late and difficult. The Communists have done most to develop it, as a penal colony, as a buffer against invasion, and as a supplier of raw materials and living space for an overpopulated country. But what China sees as its property, the Uighurs regard as theft by an alien occupier. Tension has led to violence and savage reprisals. This portrait of Xinjiang should be essential reading for travelers and for anyone interested in today's China and the fate of minority peoples. (CHN231, $28.95)
The Wisdom of the Buddha • Jean Boisselier RELIGION • 1994 • PAPER • 191 PAGES A pocket-size primer of Buddhism, this book is an illustrated history of the sixth-century Indian prince and his quest for enlightenment. With 207 illustrations, 160 in full color. (IDA55, $12.95)
A Woman Soldier's Own Story • Xie Bingying • Barry Brissman • Lily Chia BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • HARD COVER • 336 PAGES The first English translation of Xie Bingying's autobiography, published in two installments in China in 1936 and 1946. Xie (1906-2000) chronicles her rebellious youth in pre-Communist China, especially her time as a soldier in the 1920s (fighting the feudal warlords) and 1930s (fighting the Japanese). A feminist, nationalist and polemicist, Xie was -- to put it mildly -- no shrinking violet. Her intensely political memoir reveals the desperate mood in China during the decades leading up to the revolution. Xie's daughter and son-in-law translated. (CHN158, $36.00)
A Woman's Asia • Marybeth Bond ANTHOLOGY • 2005 • PAPER • 310 PAGES These thirty-five personal, often hilarious accounts of women's adventures from China to Sri Lanka to Turkey to Bhutan, not only illuminating the everyday, oft-overlooked cultural practices of Asia, but also giving a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of the female traveller. Featuring selections from Jan Morris, Pamela Logan and Alison Wright. (ASA49, $17.95)
World Religions: Eastern Traditions • Willard G. Oxtoby RELIGION • 2010 • PAPER • 515 PAGES A clear and insightful introduction to Eastern religions by a team of scholars. It's a handsomely produced concise overview of Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, and East Asian traditions, as rewarding for the general reader as the student. This second edition features additional suggested reading, photographs, glossary and thought-provoking review questions. (ASA07, $84.95)
Yangtze Remembered, The River Beneath the Lake • Linda Butler • Simon Winchester TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2004 • HARD COVER • 192 PAGES Prize-winning art photographer Linda Butler offers a chronicle of people, places and change along the Yangtze. She visited eight times between 2000 and 2003 to chronicle the effects of the flooding of the great river's Three Gorges region in luminous black-and-white images. With an introduction by Simon Winchester and informative accompanying captions and text. The photographs in the book are also a traveling museum exhibition. For more information see lindabutlerphoto.com. (CHN218, $70.00)
Yangzi River Map • Richard Perry Hayman 2003 • MAP A full-color, comprehensive map of the Yangzi River from its source in the Himalayas down to Shanghai and the East China Sea. Ten maps are featured in all, including orientation maps of all China, several detailed maps of the Three Gorges area plus the cities of Shanghai, Chongqing, and Wuhan. The 4,000-mile-long course of the river is broken into two main maps of the Upper and Lower Yangzi, each at a 1:1,000,000 scale. The double-sided map, which features hypsometric shaded relief derived from USGS data, unfolds to 27 x 39 inches. Two Sides. 27x39 inches. (CHN177, $14.95)
Years of Red Dust • Qiu Xiaolong LITERATURE • 2011 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A collection of linked short stories that trace the changes in China from the Communist revolution in 1949 to the modernization movement of the late 1990s, all from the perspective of one street in Shanghai, Red Dust Lane. These stories from the author of the Inspector Chen novels originally appeared serially in the French paper Le Monde. (CHN625, $14.99)

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