John Pomfret

“I liked the way it felt to speak Chinese—the elegant rise and fall of the tones, the sensuous way my tongue flitted about my mouth and the economy of a language that needed very few words to say a lot. Speaking good French demands control of one’s lips; American English relies on an open mouth; but Chinese can be spoken perfectly even through clenched teeth. “Picture your tongue as a butterfly,” one of my instructors would say, and there it would be, flapping against my mouth and banging against my teeth as I sought to harness it and speak Chinese.”
― John Pomfret, Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China

“For the United States, however, trading with China not only saved but helped shape the new republic. America’s discovery of the China market was integral to the rise of the United States. For the Chinese, America also meant opportunity—for their officials, for their showmen, and for one globally minded businessman.”
― John Pomfret, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present