All generalizations about China are false--including this one. This book is about how I started out for Australia but ended up on a 3-decade adventure in China. We've witnessed unprecedented changes in China. In some small ways, we've even participated in these changes.

About Author

William N. Brown, the first American to receive Permanent Residence in Fujian Province after Reform and Opening-up. In 1988, he moved with his family to Xiamen where he taught MBA courses for the past 30 years. In 1993, he was awarded “Friendship Award”.

Chapter 1
Getting Oriented
(1988)

1 Detour From Australia 2
2 “Jade Islands” 6
3 China Our Matchmaker 11
4 Slow Boat to Amoy 17

Chapter 2
Xiamen University Holiday Village
(09/1988 to 01/1989)

5 Student Life at Holiday Inn 26
6 Iceboxer Rebellion 31
7 Cafeteria Wars 35
8 TVs and Toast 39
9 Half the Sky 45
10 Room Service 49
11 Wheels in Amoy 52
12 Vanilla in the Paint Store 55
13 Going Postal 61
14 Beauty and the Beach 64
15 Well Seasoned Greetings 66


Chapter 3
MBA & XMU Foreign Experts Guesthouse
(01/1989 to 03/1990)

16 China’s First MBA! 70
17 Good Morning, China! 76
18 Payday 79
19 Chinese New Year – Live Long and Prosper 85
20 My Chinese New Year Prisoner 91
21 No Books, No Class! 94
22 Body Spaces 99
23 Amoy’s Most Festive Holiday 102
24 Talking Turkey (Chinese Thanksgiving) 106
25 Merry Amoy Christmas 109

Chapter 4
Lingfeng – Little House on the Hilltop
(03/1990 to 12/1993)

26 Lingfeng – Little House on the Hilltop 116
27 Turning the Tea Table 120
28 These Are the Magi – Gift-giving in China 123
29 Flowers on Horseback 128
30 Happy Holidays 132
31 The Tao of Tea 136
32 Gulangyu – Richest Square Mile on Earth 139
33 Amoy Taboos 143
34 When Silence Is Not Golden 146
35 Fujian’s 1st Foreign Green Card 152
36 I Voted ! (Mountains High, Emperor Far Away) 156
37 Friendship Award 160
38 Foreign Devils and Friends 164

Chapter 5
Exploring China and Amoy People
(10/1994 to Present)

39 Around China in 80 Days (Ⅰ) 170
40 Around China in 80 Days (Ⅱ) 176
41 Millionaire Maid 182
42 Amoy Captures the Dutch! 190
43 Y2K End of the Road? 195
44 Our Made in China Marriage : 20 years! 201
45 Xiamen Wins the “Green Oscar” 204
46 Robin Fei Fei – The Best Student I Never Had 207
47 Flowers on Horseback, Dismounting the Tiger 210

Epilogue 214

"Tibet or Bust!" That was our daily mantra through the first half of our 40，000 km drive around China back in 1994 - before the days of bullet trains， highways and bullet cars. For six weeks， we'd snaked over endless mountains and slogged through Mongolian mud. We'd survived two bandit sand traps in the Gobi Desert and covered half of the world's highest highway...
I wondered if the crazy trip was even worth it. When I'd written articles about China's changes， some foreigners - and even a few Chinese - had argued， "Only coastal China has changed； no change inland." So I decided to see for myself. We bought a 15-passenger van and added a bed， table and bookshelves for the boys' schooling. I pored over maps and National Geographic articles and mapped out a 40，000 km. drive up the coast to Mongolia， West through the Gobi Desert and Tibet， and back to Xiamen from the South through Yunnan， Guangxi， Hainan Island， and Guangdong.
For six weeks we'd meandered without lundrance around China - apart from the Gobi desert bandits. Police in every province were friendly and helpful. Even soldiers were patient when we didn't see the fallen "Keep Out! sign and pitched our tent on a military base. Half a dozen soldiers descended upon us while we were building a fire for supper， but with typical Chinese courtesy the senior officer said， "We're sorry， but it would be easier for us if you'd camp elsewhere：" He smiled and added， "Could we take photos with your sons? They're so cute."
But after six weeks of one hurdle after another, we were stranded just one day's drive from Tibet. Shannon and Matthew， ofcourse， were not worried. With a certainty that evaporated only when they became teenagers， they knew Dad could do no wrong. Mom was less confident. As Susan Marie squeezed her canvas oxygen bag like a Scotsman with a plugged bagpipe， i wondered if this time I'd bitten off more than my family could chew， even though six years in China had given us good jaw muscles.
The rarefied atmosphere had given me a splitting headache. I pulled off the road before a small military outpost， the permafrost crunching like corn flakes beneath Toy Ota's tires.lignored the gawking soldiers and rested my throbbing head on the steering wheel. How on earth did i end up on the roof of the world， when my childhood goal had been Australia?