"The collapse of China is unthinkable. The consequences for its people - and for the people of the world - could be catastrophic. Three times larger than the United States, China has an economy that many predict will blossom into the world biggest by 2010. The county may be America's greatest rival, but each of us, from diplomat to businessman to ordinary consumer, has a vital interest in China's stability." "The People's Republic, however, is failing....

Income levels have risen sharpley in China during the last two decades. Although just 2% of all Chinese have hot, running water, virtually all households have televisions. This personal, intelligent book addresses these sweeping changes and how they are forming modern China.

Number Four will have a difficult life. These are the words that were uttered upon Ting-xing Ye's birth. Soon this prophecy would prove only too true. . . . Here is the real-life story about the fourth child in a family torn apart by China's Cultural Revolution. After the death of both of her parents, Ting-xing and her siblings endured brutal Red Guard attacks on their schools and even in their home. At the age of sixteen, Ting-xing is exiled...

This evocative exploration of the profound changes overtaking China examines the major dilemmas the country confronts: official corruption, growing disparities between rich and poor, the halting reform of state-owned enterprises, transportation and infrastructure bottlenecks, and environmental degradation. Shanghai-born and Western-educated, Cheng Li provides the unique dual perspective of a local resident and a political scientist who returned to...