Acknowledgement

T

his book was inspired by the stories my parents told me about my grandmother's life, her past, her present, and all that had happened and changed in between. As China was approaching the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, I thought Grandma's story reflects China's story, and felt the urge to examine how a country with a billion plus people made such a remarkable transformation within a span of 60 years. During the course of writing this book, the research I needed to do has become an unexpected soul searching journey for me, from which I have come to learn and understand so much more about how China and its people have progressed, one step at a time, to arrive at where they are today. It has been a most humbling and gratifying experience for me.

I want to thank Grandma for allowing me to tell her life story, for agreeing to be interviewed by me and my mother many times in the course of 18 months to help with this book. Thanks to my parents, my father Wei Xinsheng and my mother Hu Huiqin, without whose help this book would not have even been started. My mother told me most of the stories from her frequent chats with Grandma. She also wrote long passages and notes for me about her childhood and the years before I was born. My father spent countless hours locating and categorizing old family photos, and collecting more from his brothers and sisters.

Grandma's two sons, my older uncle Hu Liren and younger uncle Hu Lihong, both helped my mother in checking and double-checking historic facts, such as the specific date or sequence certain things happened. My brother Wei Tao and his wife Liang Hailang both helped in getting the old photos scanned, stored, sent and resent to me.

This book would not have been possible without my husband, Herbert Bryant, his love, his confidence in me and his unwavering support. Herb had to spend many days and weekends without talking with me during the first half of this year in order to provide a quiet writing environment for me. He was the first reader of my drafts and the first editor to polish them. He not only corrected my English, but also gave me an American perspective, so that the text and structure would be improved to become more interesting to Western readers. It was also at Herb's encouragement that I selected a Chinese publisher to publish the book first.

Mr. Zhao Qizheng, Dean of the School of Journalism, Renmin University, was instrumental in recommending the publisher for this book, China Intercontinental Press, the leading publisher of foreign language books in China. Mr. Zhao, a fellow Beijinger and a master of mass communications, is currently the Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He is also the former Director of the State Council Information Office of China. Most importantly, he has been a role model for me, and for many aspiring journalists in China, in our quest to tell China's story to the world.

Professor Yu Guoming, Vice Dean of the School of Journalism, Renmin University, played a major role in identifying a suitable publisher for this book. I have to thank my good friend and former editor at the Global Times newspaper in Beijing, Wang Wen, for introducing me to Professor Yu. The page that Mr. Wang Wen – who also writes Editorials for the paper – is responsible for at the Global Times, the International Opinion page, has provoked great thinking, debate and self-searching among Chinese and foreign writers and scholars on the "China experience" of the past, and the path China may lead in the future.

Many thanks go to Ms. Jing Xiaomin, Director of Publishing Division, China Intercontinental Press, for her advice and expertise in publishing books of similar interest. My thanks to my editor Wang Li who worked on typesetting and photo copyright issues tirelessly until everything was perfect. My most sincere gratitude to Ms. Martha Avery of the United States who went through every chapter, which was written by a Chinese for whom English is not a native language, and painstakingly corrected the mistakes and many times reorganized sentences to make it read smoother. She made the book that much more enjoyable without leaving a trace that it had been edited.

Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks to my husband's "all American" family through whom I learned what to emphasize in this book; to Mdm. Anna Chennault, herself an amazing Chinese-American woman and widow of Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault who commanded the legendary Flying Tigers in Asia during World War II, for kindly writing a review; to Mr. John Pomfret of the Washington Post for taking time out of his busy schedule to write a review; to Mr. Tom Harvey, who acutely understands Great Power Games, for his encouraging review; to Mr. Mark Deyle and his family for their generosity and interest in reading the early draft; to Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hunter for their advice on book publishing, their help with editing the Foreword and, the wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches; to Mr. Liang Fei from the Copyright Protection Center of China for his expertise on copyright issues; and to Ms. Li Huafeng of the Global Times for helping with copyright issues.

Washington, DC

September 22, 2009