China Reads

I am heading to China this week. In my usual, slightly crazy fashion, I took this as an opportunity to read books that could inspire me while I was there. Here is a list of what I have read.

Blue Guide - China
When China Ruled the Seas - Louise Levathes
Confessions - An Innocent Life in Communist China - Kang Zhengguo
Dragon Lady - Sterling Seagrave
The Soong Dynasty - Sterling Seagrave
Private Life of Chairman Mao - Dr Li Zhisui
The Adventures of Marco Polo - John Day
The Wisdom of Confucius - Lin Yutang
War Trash - Ha Jin
Waiting - Ha Jin
Lost Horizon - James Hilton
Journey to War - Christopher Isherwood and Auden
and a biography of Chiang Kai-sheck whose author i have forgotten

I now have a jumbled history of China that I wil try to apply to some of the places I will see. The books have inspired and awed me and made me realize how little I know of or understand the country I am going to see.

Oh yeah, and all the blogs I have read about the public toilet system there scare me a little. I am not a naturally tidy person, but i do like a clean bowl.

So stay tuned for my travel plans and dates.