Jan Wong, a Canadian of Chinese descent, went to China as a starry-eyed Maoist in 1972 at the height of the cultural Revolution. A true believer - and one of only two Westerners permitted to enroll at Beijing University - she renounced rock and roll, hauled pig manure in the paddy fields, and turned in a fellow student who sought her help in getting to the United States.
Startling, ironic, and deeply personal, 'Red China Blues' follows Wong's rocky romance with Maoism and from the Number One Machine Tool Factory to Tiananmen Square. And through the individuals and events she encounters during her years as a correspondent in China, Wong reveals long-hidden dimensions of the world's most populous nation, and comes to terms with the legacy of her ancestral homeland.
