Sometimes we read to prepare for an
experience. Sometimes we read to
understand an experience. Earlier in
this blog, I posted titles that were recommended to us, and those books truly
proved beneficial in framing the context of the society and culture of modern
China. Here are the links to those blog
posts if you don’t want to wade through the 3 dozen other entries J.
Since that time, the reading list keeps growing
and I want to highly recommend 4 books whether you have been to, are
planning to go to, or are simply interested in China.
1. Several years ago, Ben knew the Simons family, who lived in
Lexington while Carolyn, a psychologist, was finishing university. We were delighted to meet up with her and her
husband, Dave on our first weekend in Beijing! They are both now retired, and were visiting their son, Craig, his wife,
Jen Lin Liu and their beautiful baby daughter. Craig and
Jen are both authors and we were glad to chat with them for a few minutes in
their apartment. Then, we meandered
through the nearby hutong to a cooking school owned by Jen. The school’s head chef cheerfully allowed us
to step inside the restaurant/kitchen which is designed for small dinner parties and
classes. Jen’s book, Serve the People,
provides unique insight into the cuisine of China, the culture of cooking throughout
the regions, and the pages are seasoned with simple, authentic recipes.
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| Jen Lin Liu's book, Serve the People, is a very interesting read about Chinese cuisine. |
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| The chef at the cooking school Jen owns and operates in a trendy Beijing hutong. |
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| Dave & Carolyn treated us to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. |
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| En rte to the cooking school. |
2. & 3. We learned that Craig Simons was part of the team
of Peace Corps volunteers who taught in southern Chinese schools with Peter
Hessler, another well-known author. One
rather rainy afternoon, we took the subway to the embassy area of Beijing where
we found a well-known ex-pat bookstore, The Book Worm. http://beijingbookworm.com/ We enjoyed coffee, wifi, and purchased Peter’s
book, River Town, which we intended to read on the trains & planes
during our trip back to KY. We are
currently reading a 2nd book written by Peter Hessler, Oracle
Bones.
4. Upon our arrival at Kelly’s Courtyard Hotel in
Beijing, we ate breakfast with a German couple who loaned us the book, China
Road, by Rob Gifford. This well
written account chronicles the author’s experiences travelling across the China
equivalent of Rte. 66. Here, Ben is
reading a few chapters in the courtyard while our room was being prepared. 
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
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