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Pre Departure >
Pre departure China >
Recommended Reading, Films and Websites
Books and Films About China
Many of you will be interested in reading about China or watching some Chinese films before you depart. Below is a short list of recommended books and films. Enjoy!
Books
History
The Search for Modern China, Jonathan Spence: A classic history text.
Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City 1842-1949, Stella Dong: An informative and entertaining book about Old Shanghai.
Life Along the Silk Road, Susan Whitfield: Semi-fictionalized biographies of travelers along the Silk Road.
The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang, Sally Hovey Wriggins: A recount of Xuanzang’s fascinating and extensive journey that prompted a great cultural exchange between India and China.
China: A New History, John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman: A staple of Chinese history.
China Road: A Journey Into the Future of a Rising Power, Rob Gifford: In depicting his travels aong Route 312, Gifford gives face to a country widely misunderstood by Westerners, breathes life into a nation that is so often reduced to economic statistics, and outlines China's problems and promise.
China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty, Charles Benn: Another staple of Chinese history.
Streetlife China, Michael Dutton: A different taste of the vast banquet of modern China including history, society, politics, economics and gender.
Social Science
Private Life Under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village, 1949-1999, Yunxiang Yan: A rural ethnography of a Chinese village and a comprehensive, nuanced account of family change and the transformation of private life in rural China from 1949 to 1999.
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, Leslie T. Chang: An exploration of the urban realities and rural roots of a community, until now, as unacknowledged as it is massive—China's 130 million workers whose exodus from villages to factory and city life is the largest migration in history.
Art
Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, Richard Barnhart: An excellent overview of Chinese painting.
The Arts of China, Michael Sullivan: The most comprehensive and accessible overview of Chinese Art.
Art in China, Craig Clunas: A compliment to Michael Sullivan's book, The Arts of China
Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road, Roderick Whitfield: Provides a good introduction to the caves and excellent pictures of the Buddhist murals.
The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia, Frances Wood: A good overview of history of the Silk Road illustrated with drawings, manuscripts, paintings and artifacts.
Body and Face in Chinese Visual Culture, Hung Wu and Katherine R. Tsiang: Historical case studies and investigations of particular images, such as Han dynasty tomb figurines; Buddhist texts and illustrations; pictures of deprivation, illness, deformity, and ghosts; clothing; formal portraiture; and modern photographs and films.
Biography and Autobiography
Life and Death in Shanghai, Nien Cheng: An excellent memoir of an educated woman who was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution.
Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China, John Pomfret: An interesting account from one the first American students admitted to China after the communist revolution.
The Private Life of Chairman Mao, Li Zhisui: An interesting biography of Chairman Mao by his personal physician.
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, Jung Chang: A memoir recounting three generations of women during the 20th century.
Fiction
Waiting: A Novel, Ha Jin: A gripping novel that reflects the changes in Chinese society from the 1960's through the 80s.
Selected Stories of Lu Hsun, Lu Xun: A collection of stories from the most famous Chinese writer of the early 20th century.
Travel
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, Peter Hessler: A view of rural China through the eyes of an American teaching English there.
Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present, Peter Hessler: An account of modern China as viewed through the lives of friends and neighbors Hessler met while a journalist in China.
Cultural Guides/Reference Books
Chinese Business Etiquette: A Guide to Protocol, Manners, and Culture in the PRC, Scott Seligman: A good introduction to etiquette and culture.
Doing Field Work in China, Maria Heimer and Stig Thogersen: A useful guide for the Capstone Project.
Cultural Intelligence: People Skills for Global Business, David C. Thomas and Kerr Inkson. Helps readers develop a mind-set that can be applied to any number of countries and cultures, a great resource for anyone considering studying abroad, or engaging an international career.
Films
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