When The Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China's Reawakening

by Dori Jones Yang

In the 1980s, after decades of isolation, China opened its doors—and Communism changed forever. As a foreign correspondent during this pivotal era, Dori Jones fell in love with China and with a Chinese man. This memoir recalls the euphoria of Americans discovering a new China, as well as the despair of Tiananmen.

When China opened its doors in the 1980s, it shocked the world by allowing private enterprise and free markets. Dori Jones was among the first American correspondents to cover China under Deng Xiaoping, who dared to defy Maoist doctrine to try to catch up with richer nations. Though introverted, Dori used her fluency in Mandarin to get to know the ordinary people she met—people embracing opportunities that had once been unimaginable in China.

Soon, Dori fell for a Chinese man who had fled China with his family in 1949 and only recently returned. Together, they found the relatives his parents had left behind, who were just starting to hope for a better future. This euphoria—shared by American businesses and Chinese citizens alike—reached its peak in 1989, when a million peaceful protestors filled Tiananmen Square, demanding democracy. Dori lived that hope, as well as the despair that followed when the army opened fire. After Tiananmen, dejected and sure that the era of promising possibilities was over, she returned to America in 1990—only to watch as China resumed its growth.

Written in a time when China’s rapid rise is setting off fears in Washington, When the Red Gates Opened offers insight into the daring policies that started it all.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, China, History

328 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2020

About the author

Author of eight books, including a memoir, When the Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China's Reawakening, about her personal experiences as a reporter covering China.
Also author of Daughter of Xanadu, a historical novel set in China in the time of Marco Polo, and The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang, about a Chinese immigrant girl in Seattle.
A former Business Week correspondent in Hong Kong, Dori co-authored the best-selling business book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time.
For more, see https://dorijonesyang.com/.

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

a charming well-written memoir which, for my purposes, sheds great light on the emergence of China after the Nixon visit ... it is interesting that Yang never links Nixon's visit to the momentous changes which were stimulated and perhaps enabled by that visit ... my currently in-process historical novel explores the Nixon visit from both U.S. and Chinese (mainly Premier Zhou) perspectives

[Evelina | AvalinahsBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss

This book was good, but I got stuck quite seriously in the middle, because the author got carried away and concentrated too much on her personal life details, in my opinion. It was interesting when it was about the actual topic - China and her experiences in Asia. But I got wary when the book went on about how she met her husband, had her child, struggled with apartments and money. After all, this isn't a celebrity memoir, so I was reading it to find out about China opening up, not about the author being in a long-distance relationship and struggling with it. I got stuck on that bit for several weeks and nearly dropped the book. But then I got back to it, and after the author gets married, the personal life details dwindle and the book gets back on track.

When the Red Gates Opened is as much about being a journalist in China in the 80s and 90s as much it is about being a woman journalist anywhere. It did have quite a lot of interesting and eye-opening things I've never considered, that aren't as relevant as they were 30-40 years ago, and it reminded me to be thankful for the changes.

Breaking Stereotypes About Reporters

I've always thought that reporters are daring extroverts, cause it's kind of in the job description - you have to talk to people, and not just people - strangers, often wealthy or powerful strangers. But Dori, the author of this book, talks a lot about her constant struggle with her "Little Me" - the part of herself that kept telling her "you can't do this, they'll never talk to you". She was introverted and wanted to challenge herself with her job, and with living alone in a foreign country as a woman. It's all something "out there" for me, so it made me tremendously respect the author.

Being A Woman Professional In The 80's

There's also one thing that the book is full of and one thing I haven't even considered - how much things have changed for women since the 1980's.

We're used to thinking of the 80's as a considerably progressive time - after all, all our mothers were working, weren't they? But when I read this memoir, the differences were quite apparent. The women of my generation wouldn't even question having a job AND having a family - but it seemed women of that time had to explain themselves to husbands, bosses, family. Explain things I wouldn't even dream of having to explain. And considering I already think that the girls who are growing up now have an easier time than I did as a teen and a young woman in STEM studies at the time... It just baffles the mind how much has changed, and especially how much we take for granted - how much we should be thankful for, thankful to the women who came before us and broke the ice.

By far the most chilling thing for me about this is that the 80's seem so recent - surely we all know women who were young back then. It seems as though life couldn't have been all that different. It was, like, JUST NOW. Except it was also vastly different. And that's a shocking thing to realize.

How Did China Bridge The Gap Between Socialism And Capitalism?

The history of China is always alluring to the Westerner, because it's such an interesting country, despite the complicated political histories. When the Red Gates Opened mostly focuses on how China emerged and modernized, entered the economic stage of the world. I've always wondered about this story - because most of the time, you get to read stories of, say, the 1950's in China - which is often very bleak, painful and hopeless - and then you look at China today and see it as it is, and realize that nobody told you the story in the middle, and you just don't get how they got from point A to point B. In that sense, this book was very interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I also wish the author didn't get bogged down so much with life details in the middle, because that wasn't very engaging for me. I understand that a memoir is a memoir, but when it comes to a memoir by a person we don't all know from afar like with celebrities, it's really not all that interesting to read about the personal life details of a complete stranger.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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[Lucy Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A JOURNALIST IN CHINA

I’ve just read a new memoir that resonated with me: WHEN THE RED GATES OPENED: A Memoir of China’s Reawakening. Dori Yang worked as a journalist for Business Week in China in the 1980s. This was a seminal time for China—most especially from a business perspective. This was when the current leader, Deng Xiaoping, made a concerted effort to transform China’s economy. He allowed some capitalist enterprise and opened the gates to Western business.

Dori Yang was a young woman in 1982 when she arrived in Hong Kong as the chief reporter for Business Week—not just for Hong Kong, but for all of China, Taiwan and even the rest of Asia. It was a plumb assignment, especially for someone young and relatively new to the field of journalism.

But Dori was obviously up to the job. She had already learned to speak Mandarin Chinese. So, when she got to travel around mainland China, she really didn’t need a translator. She had a good journalist’s nose—she had a way of meeting and interviewing not just leaders but also ordinarily people she would see on the street.

Her memoir is also a personal story. She told about her family back in Ohio. And there's also a love story. She met her future husband, Paul Yang, in Hong Kong. He was a refugee from mainland China and had also lived in the States.

For a journalist, this was an exciting time to be reporting from China. She was a witness to an important era. China emerged from isolation, with ill-equipped and inefficient industries. This was the start of modern-day China when it would become an economic powerhouse. Hong Kong, which was her home base, was also on the cusp of change. The 99-year British lease was about to expire, and this island-of-commerce would soon become part of China.
She was also a witness in 1989 to the dramatic and terrifying event known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. This was when she was about to leave China.

The massacre was personal to her—on multiple levels. Her hopes for China were crushed—as she saw what an oppressive government was capable of doing to its own people. And she had been there, on the streets, talking to students and others who wanted simple freedoms. She had met some of the people who had been targeted that day by the tanks.

I found this well-written book fascinating. I could also identify with the story on a personal level. I spent two months in Hong Kong much earlier— in 1964. I recognized the streets that she described. But at that time, as an American, I wasn’t allowed to visit mainland China. My trip to China, as a tourist, was much later—in 2014. By then, Shanghai and Beijing had been transformed—almost unrecognizable from what she saw in the 1980s.

My late brother, Jerry Rose, was a journalist in Vietnam in the 1960s—my new book, THE JOURNALIST, is his story. Dori and Jerry had a lot in common as journalists—trying to ferret out the real stories, overcoming challenges, and dealing with editors back in the States. The time periods were different—1960s versus 1980s. But, for both, the life of a journalist, at a turbulent place and time, makes a dramatic and intriguing story.

[Nicki Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

China’s opening and its rapid transformation from a country of poverty and collective farms into the prosperous country we know today got its start in the 1980s. It was one of history’s turning points. And Dori Jones Yang was there.
If Yang’s book had been only about that crucial period in history, I would have been satisfied. But the book is much more. It’s the story of a romance. And it’s a touching memoir. As a white American woman who married a Chinese man, I could easily identify with the story of her interracial romance. But even more engrossing to me was the entire story of how a young woman only five years out of college handled the opportunity of a lifetime: being sent to Hong Kong in 1982 as Business Week’s bureau chief and sole correspondent for Hongkong, China, and East Asia.
Though I couldn’t fully identify with her courage in accepting the job, I understand her fear, determination and ambition. She wanted to distinguish herself, to travel the larger world and write about it. Her task wouldn’t be easy. Even though she admits to being shy, she was determined to leave behind what she called “Little Me,” the voice that told her she wasn’t important, that no one would want to talk to her.
The story of Yang’s struggles and successes intertwined with the ups and downs of her romance and the story of China’s opening and economic expansion makes this well written memoir a joy to read.

[Cahner Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible. In her memoir, Dori Jones Yang reflects on her years living in Hong Kong and reporting in Asia for BusinessWeek, specifically during a time of rapid economic growth in China during the 1980s. While most Americans were watching events unfold on their tv or in the papers, Dori was traveling around Asia and building trust with both citizens and officials inside China.

This memoir weaves back and forth between China’s history and Dori’s personal life. Her marriage to a Chinese man and her daughter being born in Hong Kong leaves her invested in the region not just career wise, but personally as well. She also touches on women in the workforce and how she navigated an intense journalism job with becoming a mother for the first time. The book starts when Dori moved to Hong Kong as a young journalist, and ends seven years later after she covered one of the biggest events in China, the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The writing was extremely well done (you can always count on a journalist to write a good book) and I definitely got a different perspective of China than I’ve ever seen before. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t know about the Tiananmen Square massacre and knew very little about China’s transition to capitalism. I teared up towards the end of this book thinking about all those college students protesting in the square. I 100% recommend this book for anyone who likes memoirs, asian history, or just an interesting and informative book on world affairs.

- Cahner (@cahnersbooks)

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy reading books about China which include memoirs, books about Chinese people, and even a history book at times.

The author is writing specifically about her time in Asia living in Hong Kong with a brief stay in Beijing during the 1980's. She works for the magazine Business Week. I don't know much about being a journalist so that was interesting.

Each chapter begins with a Chinese word or phrase which relates to the chapter. I found that interesting as I do speak a bit of Chinese.

My first visit to Hong Kong was in 1991. Later we lived there. I was able to picture life in Hong Kong. (It appears that the book is to include various photos but that was not on the version I was reading.)

As you read the book, you do see how the author's view change as the events there change.

I found it fascinating to read about her experiences and seeing Tiananmen Square and the surrounding area just after the Tiananmen Square Incident.

I enjoyed the book. If you enjoy books written about an individual's experiences in China, I recommend this book.

I did read an e-copy and there were times that the words were not spaced correctly so words ran together making it a bit of a challenge.

Thank you to netgalley.com for a copy of this book to review. The comments and opinions are my own.

[Evelyn LaTorre · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Red Gates Opened by Dori Jones Yang is a book all readers, but especially determined, headstrong females, can identify with. Hers is a story of falling in love with an occupation, a country, and a man. The Mandarin-speaking author takes us with her as she struggles to break important stories for Business Week—while also nurturing her relationship with the Chinese American man she wants to marry. In often metaphorical language, she guides us throughout Hong Kong, China, and other Asian countries, opening our eyes to the cityscapes, countryside, and the people. We see events through the eyes of a new, then a seasoned, reporter. We accompany her to interviews with common citizens and major leaders and begin to understand the antecedents of China becoming a major economic power. We learn what led to and the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre. As a fellow author who has also lived in a foreign country, I delighted in her use of similes such as, “…like handing over the church keys to a group of atheists.” This is a book dense with historical information that will delight the reader. Evelyn Kohl LaTorre, EdD, author of Between Inca Walls and Love in Any Language.

[Cindy Rasicot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dori Jones Yang uses all the powers of her skills as an investigative journalist to describe the economic and political changes happening in China during the 1980's. It is encouraging to see a single woman embark on a journey to immerse herself in a foreign culture. At the same time, she also explored her inner personal journey of meeting her future husband and navigating the difficulties they encountered while waiting for him to divorce his first wife. My favorite line of the book is "During my eight years in Hong Kong, I realized that the farther you wander from home, the more perspective you gain on yourself." Having lived in a foreign culture myself, I have found this to be true. I really enjoyed When the Red Gates Opened, and highly recommend it to others.

[Rajika · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent blend of a deeply personal story, rich analysis, and the choices women make every day. I really enjoyed this book because it is multi-layered nonfiction. It is not only a behind-the-scenes, gripping account of China's rise as a superpower, but it is also a deeply personal story of cultural assimilation, of findings ones place in the world, and the difficult choices that women invariably have to make. As a professional and mother myself, I was drawn in by Dori's candid account of balancing her professional aspirations with her role as a mother. The story might be specific to Dori's time in China, but the issues she surfaces are universal. A highly recommended book for anyone who enjoys serious nonfiction.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yang writes an excellent personal memoir, but also a cultural history of China"s rapid transformation from a shuttered economy to a global powerhouse. I found the timeline exceedingly fascinating and Yang was on the cusp of it all as the foreign correspondent for Business Week. How the world and journalism has changed since typewriters and telex machines. Her personal history was equally interesting reading. The one drawback is the ARC didn't have any of the pictures included. I would have loved to have seen those. Thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Kim Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We all enter the world by leaving our comfort zone," Dori Jones Yang writes in a section about the birth of her daughter. But this could be a thematic statement for the whole book. Ms. Jones Yang stepped out of her own comfort zone to pursue her career as a foreign business correspondent at a time when few women had such roles. This was also the historic moment when China, led by Deng Xiao Ping, began to step out toward economic openness. WHEN THE RED GATES OPENED offers a fascinating look at what leaving one's comfort zone can mean in the life of an individual and that of a country and the world.

[Heather Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both a cross-cultural personal memoir and a fascinating look at China's transformation from socialism to communist-inflected capitalism. Yang was a young, female foreign correspondent who married a Chinese man before intercultural marriages were common and operated in a male-dominated industry. Through her work with Business Week, she not only had access to behind-the-scenes views of the changes taking place in China, but also the curiosity and language skills to go beyond and beneath official veneers. Her business expertise and cultural insights make for thoughtful reading about a major world power that is too easily mischaracterized, generalized, and demonized.

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dori Jones Yang, a journalist from Ohio reporting on China in the 1980s for BusinessWeek—who married a Chinese man while doing so—decided she wanted to write a book that bridged two worlds. When the Red Gates Opened, published this month by She Writes Press, achieved that goal.

Although the bureau Yang ran for the business magazine was located in Hong Kong, the author found many ways to conduct personal interviews in China, a difficult task in the beginning, but which got easier as the country more and more opened its gates to American business interests.

As a former female journalist during those same years, a time when women were struggling to prove themselves capable of moving to the top in their chosen careers, I identified with the author’s ambitions, and her insecurities, as she took on the manly task of bureau chief in a foreign country. And I silently cheered as the book revealed Yang’s growing confidence and increasing number of cover stories for BusinessWeek.

One of Yang’s stories in When the Red Gates Opened is a first-hand account of the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square incident in which hundreds of Chinese freedom protesters were killed. The journalist was in Beijing when the military action occurred. While not on the square itself during the event, she hired a driver who took her through the devastated areas afterwards. It was a scary experience for both her and the driver. This account alone should make the book a must read among history buffs. But Yang’s straight forward, clear, journalistic style of writing makes it easy reading for everyone.

All rolled together in one, When the Red Gates Opened is a memoir, a history book, a romance, and certainly an inspiration to women. This is especially true when Yang writes about the difficult decisions she was forced to make when she became a working mother.

But the soul of the book includes Yang’s determination to go beyond interviewing China’s growing number of successful business leaders to interact with everyday Chinese. Her expertise as a mandarin speaker helped because it allowed her to converse with people on the streets, in the trains she rode, and in places where she shopped. Having married a man whose family escaped to Taiwan during the Culture Revolution in the 1960s, and being able to visit and talk with some of his relatives who had stayed behind, was a bonus.

Yang’s book clearly shows that she had a rare perspective of the lives of China’s people. And because of this country’s current antagonism over trade with China, When the Red Gates Opened couldn’t be timelier. Although Yang admitted that her marriage to a Chinese man did somewhat undo her objectivity as an unbiased reporter, she felt it important to show how up-close interactions between people can put out the fires of hate.

As a former journalist whose nerves are being almost constantly jangled by what’s going on in the media today, one of Yang’s closing comments in the book vastly cheered me. “I had managed to gain people’s trust by putting them at ease, by asking the right questions in language they could understand. I learned to be a reporter without being aggressive or confrontational or self-aggrandizing,” she wrote. Yea! for Yang. I loved this book.

This book was reviewed for Story Circle Book Reviews by Pat Bean.

[Gabrielle Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterful memoir that will keep you enthralled from first page to last. Whether you are interested in a young woman’s struggle to succeed as international journalist in a male dominated world, or in her many-obstacled love story with an older Chinese man, or the drama of China opening its gates to the world in the 1980’s, author Dori Jones Yang brings it all to life in fascinating detail, with sensitivity, and intelligence.

Sent to Hong Kong as bureau chief for BusinessWeek in 1982, 28 year-old Dori Jones, shy and introverted, from Youngstown, Ohio, rises to the challenge. We follow her on that journey and are delighted to watch her succeed, not with bluster and push but, as she reflects at the end, “with stealth and curiosity.” Dori is interested as much in people as in history. I loved the many vignettes of street vendors, students, businessmen, politicians, friends and colleagues. As she records her conversations, we can see each person and not only understand but feel their fears, their bravery, their struggles, and hopes. The extensive notes she made at the time bring back the very words so that dialogue and conversation enliven each scene.

Throughout, I admired Dori’s courage as she lived alone in Hong Kong, worked to develop contacts, and before long got cover stories in BusinessWeek. She explored remote areas where no foreign journalist had gone. She was always ready to fly from her base in Hong Kong, not only to far flung provinces in China, but to the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, anywhere where she smelled a story. She topped it all when in 1989 she returned to Beijing at the height of the Tiananmen Square uprising when most others fled the city.

This is an intensely personal story of self-discovery intertwined with the story of China at the point of transforming itself from a backward country to a world economic power. Moving between the two, Dori makes the reader love both.
Gabrielle Robinson, author of Api’s Berlin Diaries

[Terry Sue Harms · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently had the great pleasure of listening to When the Red Gates Opened, a memoir narrated by the author, Dori Jones Yang. Like an acupuncturist taking various pulses in order to gather information, Ms Yang describes several currents running through her fascinating life as a foreign correspondent for Business Week—in China—in the early 1980’s. There were the strong beats: politics, commerce, her professional standing as a young female in a male dominated field, and eventually falling in love, but then there were also the more subtle thrums of regional cuisine, finding female friends, ingratiating herself to a western-weary society, and, of course, the deliciously squirrely palpitations around explaining her fiancé—a much older, previously married, father of two, Chinese man—to her Midwest American parents. The touch is sensitive, the observations are astute.

I highly recommend this layered and thoroughly entertaining audio-book. Ms Jones Yang, to my Californian ear, speaks perfect Mandarin, and in the few places where she sprinkles a phrase or two into the narrative, words I’m certain I would not have captured if I was reading it myself, the text sings with cultural vitality. This memoir brought the distant lands and people of Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, and all of China to life for me in a way that history books never could. Her story is a great resource for those who want to humanize a complex society with a complex history. At a time when prejudice and misinformation are at a fevered pitch, When The Red Gates Opened lowers the temperature and is a soothing balm.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When The Red Gates Opened is a memoir that reads like great historical fiction. My kudos to the author, career journalist Dori Jones Yang, for shaping a personal story into an engaging and educational book that is a perfect blend of subjective and objective perspectives. Her excellence as a journalist shines through as you learn more from Jones’ memoir about China’s transition from an impoverished communist nation to the world’s manufacturing mega-giant than you ever would from a history book. Along the way, it is easy to reach an understanding of how similar the Chinese are to Americans. One could say, the American Dream seems to be the Chinese Dream as well. Perhaps, it is simply a human dream to succeed and to live in safety and happiness. When The Red Gates Opened has far more potential to educate the average American than any amount of straight journalism ever could while also being a truly enjoyable read.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for this free copy for which I received in return for an honest review

Like opening a time capsule, Dori Jones Yang paints a clear picture of the beginnings of a tumultuous friendship between China and the US, from the shore os Hong Kong, that remains relevant today. While I have yet to visit the mainland, I have been to Hong Kong several times and despite the several decades between Dori's sojourn and my brief visits at its heart the island territory has not changed. I never felt like I was reading about events that happened two decades before my birth but rather I felt as if I was standing in the thick of it, worrying about my Chinese tones and pounding the pavement looking for sources. Xiexie for allowing me this journey; I hope to return very soon.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most insightful books about 1980s China and Hong Kong I’ve read. Dori Jones Yang’s 8 years as the Hong Kong bureau chief of BusinessWeek provided her with a first hand look at not only China’s growth from a poor country to an emerging economic powerhouse, but also Hong Kong’s evolution in the late 20th century. She experienced it all. I love her story of building a career in Asia, which many men have written about. But it’s her personal story that sets her book apart from others. She struggled to find a balance between her demanding career that took her all over Asia and becoming a wife and mother in a field that didn’t have a lot of women. This is a rare gem.

[Eli Sab]

I came across this book for want of something new to read. The synopsis was utterly intriguing as was the book itself from start to finish. I have to hand it to the author, she's got nerves of steel to pursue a career, live in a foreign country and at such a time! Honestly, I've never really bothered to look into China's history and culture. I've never even heard of that horrid massacre! Highly recommend this book for anyone who loves a good non fiction read and/or a book with a strong, female role model.

Many thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful love story. Dori Jones Yang gives us a vivid window into life as BusinessWeek's foreign correspondent in the early years of China's economic boom, especially leading up to the Tiananmen Square massacre. Packed full of interesting historical detail, we feel the author’s angst and success as she leads us through her remarkable experience. Great read!

[Lois Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating on-the-ground account of both Hong Kong and China at crucial moments in the 1980's. The book also captures the struggles and successes Dori Yang experienced entering a (at the time) non-traditional job and proving her competency. This is well-written and shares a unique viewpoint on China's rapid development.

[Krenner1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, this author is a friend but a more recent one, so her memoir was an eye-opener to me as far as her dynamic career and hutzpa as a young Hong Kong reporter in the 80s. A great read for any woman who defies the odds, wants to rise in the ranks, and has the daring-do to work overseas without much of a safety net. This is a riveting read, not only of her professional life but her falling in love with a Chinese man. I listened to the audio version which Yang reads herself, and she does a fabulous job. Very entertaining and educational. I was totally engaged.

[K. Lang-Slattery · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent memoir that combines a personal story with what it was like to be a journalist in China in the 1980s. From the early days of China’s open-door policy to the Tiananmen Square crackdown-- Dori lived through it all, wrote about it for BusinessWeek, and, at the same time, fell in love and started a family. Her love for China is obvious and forms the core of the story. Highly recommend.

[Mary Keen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this twice --just excellent balance between her personal life before and during China's amazingly fast opening up. I hadn't realized Deng's decisions and policies were so good for progress.

About her background: she was brought up in Youngstown, Ohio, not very far from where i grew up and that area sadly has not been doing well, having lost industry, etc. She obviously was/is brilliant and ambitious -- and some family member probably helped her to make good educational and vocational choices.

WE've been lucky enough to visit China. We saw many wonderful things, but the most absolutely shocking/surprising sight there was at Tienamen Square with the huge photo of Mao which Dori Jones Dang also mentioned seeing many years ago.
We just could not believe how the Chinese visitors seemed to be worshiping him, even tho many of them probably had had family members who were murdered or at least exiled to the countryside by Mao! WHY?? --maybe they worried about being watched and reported --or ????

She does a great job of narrating IMO --makes it seem more personal to the listener. She's not shy about claiming her own victories and achievements, but she also includes some self-criticism, for instance, when she admitted prioritizing her work over her new baby.

RECOMMEND at least to help you learn about how China has changed so much --and is so powerful now economically --and how we need to be its very wary friend.

Overdrive @ 1.25, or 1.35 on repeat times.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is informative about China's economic development during the 1980's and provides a glance back at the realities of being a professional woman at the time. Oh, how we were torn between our desires for a career and our desires to be with our children!

Although quite interesting, I listened to the audiobook over a two or three day period, the book is a bit repetitive and the narrative of the author's romance could have been abridged. In its place, the book would be better if the author had gone into more detail about the content of her interviews and the businesses she observed. What facilitated or hindered the startups? How did the larger businesses obtain the capital necessary for operations? How did hiring practices vary? How did people, not used to a capitalist economy, determine the enterprises that they undertook?

[Virginia Heslinga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going Through the Red Gates

For anyone interested in China, Doris Yang's years of experience as a journalist, friend, wife, relative, mentor, and mother will open insight into China. Her observations and reflections challenge views of both West and East.

[Sarah E White · Rating 2 out of 5]

A writing of its time lived by an imperfect person. I found the prose unimaginative and the choices of the author often hypocritical and unrelatable.

[Marina Otero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a lot of expectations with that book when I first started it. It seemed that the political aspects of that economical opening would be presented mixing Dori’s life in Hong Kong.

At the beginning, the book shows more of Dori’s job as journalist for Business Weekly, which was really interesting, her necessity of making conexions, building a name, interviewing remarkable people and so on. But it was quite frustrating how she built a tension around important meetings and wanting to interview people so that, when the moment came, the narrative would jump to an event of her life, without letting the reader know how that particular thing concerning her job went.

It was great that the book wants to show a China without all that prejudice western people tend to think about. Dori is concerned to say she already had an interest in China, that she studied Mandarin and there were a lot of times in which she clarified that her intention was not to demolish the barrier we creat when faced with a culture so different.

However, there were some comparisons between China and United States, and some comments about how the Bad Evil China™ made people so poor and miserable, as if capitalism hasn’t done the same, as if the United States were the best country in the world, without poor people, as if it is a country that does not promote wars, that did not encouraged dictatorships in all Latin America.

As a Latin American, it really bothers me to read those type of comments, to read that chineses souldiers were killing their own people as if the police in my country wasn’t militarized because of the US model of what a police corporation should be.

Somehow, I was still able to enjoy the book when reading about Dori’s life, the birth of her family and what a great journalist she was.