For most us when we think about China, it's in the context of 1.3 billion Chinese people as a kind of monolithic nation and culture. We see a growing international power, a competitor and a confusing, almost alien landscape. Perhaps because its culture and language is so different, the only way for a Westerner to try understand it, is from the inside, to be a part of it and not outside looking in.That is precisely what Deborah Fallows did during her three years living in China with her husband, the distinguished journalist James Fallows. Deborah has written a story that is part memoir, part travelogue, part psychological profile. Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons In Life, Love, And Language
should be required reading for anyone visiting or doing business with China.My conversation with Deborah Fallows:
