Page 75 - South Korea & Japan: Temples, Shrines & Seaside Treasures

China

Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux (Travel Narrative) Acclaimed travel writer Paul
Theroux’s vivid account of his journey through China by rail.

?SP 2ZZO 0L]_S by Pearl Buck (Literature) A modern classic that won the Pulitzer Prize 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.

?SP 2]PL_ BLWW .STYL ,RLTY^_ _SP BZ]WO -. ,/ by Julia Lovell (History) Everything
you ever wanted to know about the Great Wall. And if you are interested in images of the
Wall, consider ?SP 2]PL_ BLWW 1]ZX -PRTYYTYR _Z 0YO by Michael Yamashita and William
Lindesay (History/Photography) Lindesay’s informative text accompanies 160 photographs
by Yamashita, who spent a year photographing along the 4,000-mile expanse for National
Geographic.

The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester (Travel Narrative) In this wide-ranging
overview of the Yangtze veteran journalist Simon Winchester travels upstream into the
heartland of China. An excellent introduction to the great river that is at the symbolic and
literal heart of China.

-PQZ]P _SP /PW`RP ?SP ALYT^STYR BZ]WO ZQ _SP DLYR_ePɪ^ ?S]PP 2Z]RP^ by Deirdre Chetham (Culture)
.SP_SLX ZʬP]^ L OP_LTWPO RWTX[^P TY_Z _SP OLTWd WTQP LWZYR _SP ]TaP] T_^ ^[PN_LN`WL] YL_`]LW
MPL`_d LYO NSPNVP]PO ST^_Z]d >SP LW^Z NZY^TOP]^ _SP PʬZ]_^ _Z _LXP _SP ]TaP] N`WXTYL_TYR
with the massive Three Gorges dam. Although the book was written before the dam was
completed, it is still considered one of the better books on the subject.

China Road Md =ZM 2TʬZ]O ?]LaPW 9L]]L_TaP :Y _SP ]ZLO Q]ZX >SLYRSLT bP^_ _Z _SP 2ZMT LYO
.STYLɪ^ OT^_LY_ MZ]OP] bT_S 6LeLVS^_LY 2TʬZ]O b]T_P^ bT_S bL]X_S LYO LʬPN_TZY ZQ ST^ XLYd
encounters along fabled Route 312 with fellow travelers, truckers, and ordinary folk.

/L`RS_P] ZQ .STYL% , ?]`P >_Z]d ZQ 7ZaP LYO -P_]LdLW by Meihong Xu and Larry Engelmann
(Biography). The true account of a Chinese woman trained as an elite member of the PLA,
denounced as a spy by the Communist government for her love of an American professor.

/PL_S ZQ L =PO 3P]ZTYP by Qui Xiaolong (Mystery) Marvelously evocative of Shanghai and
China’s transition towards a market economy in the 1990’s, this award-winning debut of
Inspector Chen of the Shanghai police is also a real page-turner.

Empress Orchid by Anchee Min (Fiction) A novel of the glorious, decadent last days of 19th-
Century Imperial China. Min combines her tale of a young girl from the provinces who marries
an emperor 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.

Mao Zedong by Jonathan Spence (Biography) A masterful short biography in the “Penguin
Lives” series, this text by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence tracks the life of the enigmatic
Chinese ruler from his provincial upbringing to his powerful reign.

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