Chinese Students Encounter America

by Qian Ning, T. K. Chu (Translator)

Overview

An instant bestseller upon its publication in China in 1996, Chinese Students Encounter America (Liuxue Meiguo) appealed to those who had studied abroad, those who dreamed of doing so, and those who wanted a glimpse of the real America. This translation allows American readers to see their country through a Chinese lens.

Since China reopened to the West in the late 1970s, several hundred thousand Chinese students and scholars have traveled abroad for advanced education, primarily to the United States. Based on interviews conducted while the author studied journalism and taught Chinese literature at the University of Michigan from 1989 to 1995, Chinese Students Encounter America tells the poignant and often revealing stories of students from a variety of backgrounds.

After describing the history of Chinese students in America—from Yung Wing, who graduated from Yale in 1854, to the post-Cultural Revolution generation—Qian presents the experience of Chinese students today through anecdotes ranging from students' obsession with obtaining Green Cards and their struggles to support themselves, to their marital crises. Looming large in these personal stories is the legacy of China’s three decades of social and political turbulence following the Communist revolution in 1949 and America's dizzying abundance of material goods and personal freedom.

Qian Ning , son of Qian Qichen, China's former Foreign Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister, studied at People's University in Beijing and worked as a reporter for People's Daily before entering graduate school at the University of Michigan. Since returning to China, he has worked as a business consultant. His most recent book is about the Qin dynasty prime minister Li Si.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295803548
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	07/29/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	305
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Qian Ning , son of Qian Qichen, China's former Foreign Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister, studied at People's University in Beijing and worked as a reporter for People's Daily before entering graduate school at the University of Michigan. Since returning to China, he has worked as a business consultant. His most recent book is about the Qin dynasty prime minister Li Si.T. K. Chu was born in Anhui, China. A graduate of National Taiwan University, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Before his retirement, he was principal research physicist at the Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Translator's Preface

Author's Preface

The Intermittent History

The Road to Studying Abroad

The Shock Overseas

Different Generations, Different Talents

The Other Side of the Bright Moon

Some Marriages Hold Together, Many Fall Apart

Emotional Attachment to China

To Return or to Stay

Translator's Endnote: A Personal Reflection on the Power of History

Appendixes

— Correspondence on Remission of the Boxer Indemnity

— The Number of Students Studying Abroad, 1978-1988

— Vacillations of Study-Abroad Policy in the 1980s

— Students in the First Dispatch, December 1978

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

[Qian] presents a realistic portrait of America that is as deep as it is sweeping. He juxtaposes snapshot interviews of Chinese emigres with impressionistic freeze-frames of American and Chinese life.

Christian Science Monitor

[Qian's book] is not a sentimental paean, but an objective chronicle of the lives of Chinese students who have become a significant presence on almost every university campus in [America].... In simple yet elegant terms, much the same as those used by Alexis de Tocqueville to describe the early United States to Europeans, Qian seems to undermine the rancorous literature of Chinese nationalism.

New York Times

This text was previously published in China in 1996, and appears here in English translation for the first time. Qian is the son of China's former foreign minister and a deputy prime minister, and was a graduate student in journalism at the U. of Michigan from 1989 to 1995. Basing his work on interviews he conducted during his years at the U. of Michigan, he offers insights into the experiences of Chinese students and their impressions of America. Translated by T.K. Chu (formerly, Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton U.). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[Qian's book] is not a sentimental paean, but an objective chronicle of the lives of Chinese students who have become a significant presence on almost every university campus in [America]. . . . In simple yet elegant terms, much the same as those used by Alexis de Tocqueville to describe the early United States to Europeans, Qian seems to undermine the rancorous literature of Chinese nationalism.

-- "New York Times"

[Qian] presents a realistic portrait of America that is as deep as it is sweeping. He juxtaposes snapshot interviews of Chinese emigres with impressionistic freeze-frames of American and Chinese life.

-- "Christian Science Monitor"

From the Publisher