Out of the Gobi : my story of China and America / Weijian Shan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shan, Weijian, 1953- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shan, Weijian, 1953-.

Shan, Weijian.

Businesspeople--China--Biography.

Businesspeople.

Chinese--United States--Biography.

Chinese.

China--History--1949-.

China.

United States--History--1945-.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (498 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, 2019.

Summary:

Foreword by Janet Yellen Weijian Shan's Out of the Gobi is a powerful memoir and commentary that will be one of the most important books on China of our time, one with the potential to re-shape how Americans view China, and how the Chinese view life in America. Shan, a former hard laborer who is now one of Asia's best-known financiers, is thoughtful, observant, eloquent, and brutally honest, making him well-positioned to tell the story of a life that is a microcosm of modern China, and of how, improbably, that life became intertwined with America. Out of the Gobi draws a vivid picture of the raw human energy and the will to succeed against all odds. Shan only finished elementary school when Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution tore his country apart. He was a witness to the brutality and absurdity of Mao's policies during one of the most tumultuous eras in China's history. Exiled to the Gobi Desert at age 15 and denied schooling for 10 years, he endured untold hardships without ever giving up his dream for an education. Shan's improbable journey, from the Gobi to the "People's Republic of Berkeley" and far beyond, is a uniquely American success story - told with a splash of humor, deep insight and rich and engaging detail. This powerful and personal perspective on China and America will inform Americans' view of China, humanizing the country, while providing a rare view of America from the prism of a keen foreign observer who lived the American dream. Says former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen: "Shan's life provides a demonstration of what is possible when China and the United States come together, even by happenstance. It is not only Shan's personal history that makes this book so interesting but also how the stories of China and America merge in just one moment in time to create an inspired individual so unique and driven, and so representative of the true sprits of both countries."

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Author's Note

Prologue

Chapter 1: Man-Made Famine

Chapter 2: School Cut Short

Chapter 3: Storm of Revolution

Chapter 4: Turmoil Under Heaven

Chapter 5: Exiled to the Gobi

Chapter 6: Digging for Potatoes

Chapter 7: War Is Coming

Chapter 8: Repairing the Earth

Chapter 9: Battling Frozen Lake

Chapter 10: The Longest Night

Chapter 11: Unforgettable Movie Night

Chapter 12: Barefoot Doctor

Chapter 13: Brickmaking the Ancient Way

Chapter 14: Petition to Mao

Chapter 15: Pigs Don't Fly

Chapter 16: Half the Sky

Chapter 17: Desert Dreams of College

Chapter 18: Last Convulsions of the Revolution

Chapter 19: Roads to Rome

Chapter 20: Old Gold Mountain

Chapter 21: The People's Republic of Berkeley

Chapter 22: Ivy League Professor

Epilogue

Index

Supplemental Images

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Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781119529552

1119529557

9781119529569

1119529565