China: Playing Catch-Up?
The Myth of Chinese Capitalism: The Worker, the Factory, and the Future of the World, by Dexter Roberts In this thought-provoking new book, experienced BusinessWeek journalist Dexter Roberts predicts a dystopian future for China: an “ever more anemic economy,” stagnation, worsening inequality,...
My Views on our “New Cold War” with China
For me, the implosion of US-China relations in the past few weeks triggers heartburn and alarm. For decades, reporting and traveling around China, I have cheered the changes that brought greater freedoms and prosperity to the Chinese people. Because Deng Xiaoping allowed capitalism to thrive,...
Do Chinese men make good husbands? A book review
As an American woman married to a Chinese man, I was intrigued when I discovered two recent memoirs by American women who married Chinese men. My memoir, coming out in September, is mainly the story of a young journalist covering China at a pivotal moment of history—but it also includes how I met...
A moving story of an unlikely cross-cultural marriage
Review of How Sweet the Bitter Soup: A Memoir by Lori Qian A young American woman from a struggling family in Chicago goes to China to teach, as a way of earning money. A young Chinese man from a poor rural village in central China goes to a thriving city to look for a good job. She hires him to...
Tashkent and Samarkand: fabled cities of the Silk Road
If it weren’t for the travel disruptions due to Covid-19, I would have been in Tashkent yesterday (on my birthday) and Samarkand today. I'm feeling sad that I can't be there, but someday we'll travel again! Tashkent is now the modern, sprawling capital of Uzbekistan, but it was once a major...
An adventure trip not taken
Ten years ago, I researched Issyk-Kul, a beautiful lake in the Heavenly Mountains of Central Asia, where I set a dramatic scene, the climax of the story of Daughter of Xanadu and Son of Venice. Today, May 8, I was supposed to visit that lake, at long last, as part of a three-week Silk Road...
