If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.

Experiencing China

by Detlev Kirchgatter

166 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-1161; ISBN 1-4120-0793-3; US$18.00, C$20.33, EUR15.00, £10.50

A book for everyone. May he/she be a tourist, a businessman, a student, an expert to work in China, every one can take something from this volume. Whether it be a question of behaviour, how to treat Chinese hospitality, to do's and don't's of efficient travel, an insight into the economic growth of this gigantic country, on the basis of nine months of living and working in China the author has managed to answer many of the questions that may arise.

Read more!

about the book      about the author      sample excerpts and Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book If you are planning to enter the burgeoning Chinese economy, may he be a person with just an interest in this fourth largest country in the world and a population of 1.3 billion people. I went to China to discover facts of Chinese life, its fantastic progress, to see if I could make new friends and above all, to separate fact from fiction in my mind. In ten months' stay of travel, acting as a foreign expert, I had the opportunity to meet Chinese from every walk of life. Those heads of high technology plants to simple students from Tibet, to the ancient farmer having lived through the dark ages of the Mao period, a period that is not talked about and is best forgotten. The adage that "East and West shall never meet" I would now firmly discard as one of the fictions adhered to in the West. For when one delves below the superficiality one will find, regardless if in the West or the East, humanity has the same wants, feels the same pains as well as joys.

---

About the Author The writer was born in Germany. Too young to be drafted he experienced W.W.II as a boy, never missing any air raids just outside Berlin. By the time of the Allied victory, he and his capitalist family found themselves in what was to become the "Democratic Republic" from which they all escaped in 1947. A colourful career develops, ranging from mining, railroading, oceanography and university studies to teaching, farming and logging. These phases are interrupted by a three year stint as an educational advisor in Africa, travels in Mexico, Belize and two Atlantic crossings in his own boat. Off and on he visits Berlin, where he finishes his teaching career as an exchangee. He now lives with his wife and family in Victoria, B.C., Canada.

---

Sample Excerpts and Table of Contents

Foreword

Why China? The simple answer: I had never been to Asia, let alone China. In previous books I had reported on Hitler Germany, experiences in Europe, Africa and North America, on two Atlantic crossings in my own boat, as well as a foray into poetry. I had reached that stage where I was simply out of material for a new book.

When the opportunity came up to serve for ten months as a 'foreign expert,' I accepted quite willingly. Financial compensation would cover some expenses. I was searching for new experiences rather than material reward. If, in this process I could once more apply any skills I may possess, so be it. Since my training is that of a geographer, possibly one of the few synthesizing subjects of various fields of study, I am qualified to observe, draw conclusions and form opinions.

Ten months is not a long time in a country the size of China. I had the choice to see all of China and really learn little or, limit my experience to a small area and get to know it well in order to draw conclusions from the specific to the general. Thus I ended up with a volume of material which contains my experiences and which will be useful to any reader new to China. Whether he be a scholar looking for some contemporary updates, a businessman wanting insights into Chinese customs and psyche, a tourist desiring a quick, overall introduction into things Chinese. Every one reader will take something of value from this copy.

Prior to such venture I had searched the Internet for contacts with "live" Chinese. This proved to be an unmitigated success and it was these contacts which subsequently enabled me to meet people from all walks of life and provided me with above average insights into Chinese life. Thus, when I now talk about a "Chinese" I can honestly say that I have met him at whatever status in life. With their help I have seen parts of China not as a tourist, but through Chinese eyes. All of these people I owe a GREAT THANK YOU.

Detlev Kirchgatter
Yantai, Shandong Province,China
Victoria, B.C.Canada
20 th May,2003

---

Table of Contents

Hints for the Traveller
A Chinese Hospital Visit
Chinese Restaurants and Hotels
A Beijing Visit
Provincialism versus Urbanism
Chinese Women, Chinese Men
A Winter Tale
A Chinese Party
Problems with Chinese Hospitality
Photo Gallery
A Chinese Family Visit
Chinese Christmas Party
Chinese New Year
A Kindergarten Visit
A School Visit
Foreign Language Schools
Life of a University Student
Foreign Experts
A Chinese Business Woman
Visiting a Small Factory
Church Attendance
Peking Opera and Exhibitions
Tea Ceremony
Chinese Television
Night Market
Chinese and Vehicles
Safety at Work
Work Ethics and Chinese Free Time
Confucius
Economics and Politics
Environmental Concerns
Visiting Penglai
Nanshan Development
Swan Lake and Xixiakou
Walking Through Yantai
China and the Future
SARS Enigma

---

A book for everyone, may he be a tourist, a businessman planning to enter the burgeoning Chinese economy, may he be a person with just an interest in this fourth largest country in the world and a population of 1.3 billion people. I went to China to discover facts of Chinese life, its fantastic progress, to see if I could make new friends and above all, to separate fact from fiction in my mind.

In a ten months' stay of travel, acting as a foreign expert, I had the opportunity to meet Chinese from every walk of life. Those heads of high technology plants to the simple students from Tibet, to the ancient farmer having lived through the dark ages of the Mao period, a period that is not talked about and is best forgotten.

The adage that "East and West shall never meet" I would now firmly discard as one of the fictions adhered to in the West. For when one delves below the superficiality one will find, regardless if in the West or the East, humanity has the same wants, feels the same pain as well as joys.

---

"....where winters are bitter and long. Would she think of a day when forced from a bougeois home to suffer the indignity of "learning to work" with her hands, rather than her head, from ignorant peasants. A time when it was not wise to acknowledge past learning, let alone having had any, and the tragic waste of intellect which could have been used in the betterment of Chinese life everywhere. Did she recall the less fortunate women having to give themselves to cadres for the sake of a possible way out of this mindless killing environment. Did she see the raped girls, torn out of school by some mindless doctrine into the equally incurious hands of functionaries who now exercised...

... the entrance I receieved by a young lady, she had now obviously been advised of my coming, who in turn handed me over to another one dressed in the traditional Chinese attire, the floor length tight skirt with the slit to the hip. It seems only Chinese women can wear such dress effectively, It was the latters duty to....

....talk that night concentrated on the Party Congress meeting (November 2002) and the speech by the Party Secretary. From what I heard that night together with what I saw on television one can only observe the tremendous Chinese progress economically as well as socially. Particularly the start of social services which we take for granted in the west...

...we do have fire hoses located throughout the school. They are neatly coiled behind locked glass doors with the keys long since lost. The part of the fitting that is to be joined to the hydrant unfortunately is missing thus making the use of the hose impossible.

With the threat of severe punishment for not disclosing an incidence of Sars one seems to have gained at least a reasonably accurate figure of attacks and deaths. It was interesting to note that the drastic rise in Sars cases after such threats were issued...

---

Catalogue Information

---