Dimensions
152 x 234 x 24mm
Jan Wong arrived in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution a fervent young Maoist determined to change the world, only to have her own world turned upside down. The result was the bestselling RED CHINA BLUES, one of TIME magazine's Top Ten Books of the Year in 1996.
In BEIJING CONFIDENTIAL Wong returns to Beijing to witness one of history's most drastic makeovers for the 2008 Olympics. But she has another compelling reason to revisit. Haunted by her conscience, she is convinced that she ruined the life of a fellow student, Yin Luoyi, who once asked her for help in getting to America. Then a starry–eyed Maoist, she reported Yin to her teacher. More than three decades later she wants to apologise, to make peace with the woman she betrayed. At the very least, she wants to know whether Yin survived.
As she turns detective, Wong finds herself travelling back through time. She has changed, but not as much as Beijing. One of the world's most ancient cities is now one of its most modern. Comrades have become cosmopolitans. Women who were idealists have become homebodies. And Yin's incredible story mirrors the cataclysmic changes that have transformed China along the way.
BEIJING CONFIDENITAL is a uniquely personal portrait of Beijing that intertwines two extraordinary woman's journeys – one from disgrace to respectability, the other from remorse to redemption.
