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

by Dori Jones Yang

Overview

A Riveting Memoir of Cross-Cultural Romance at a Pivotal Moment in History





When China opened its doors in the 1980s, it shocked the world by allowing private enterprise and free markets. As a foreign correspondent for BusinessWeek, Dori Jones Yang was among the first American journalists to cover China under Deng Xiaoping, who dared to defy Maoist doctrine as he rushed to catch up with richer nations. Fluent in Mandarin, she got to know ordinary Chinese people—who were embracing opportunities that had once been unimaginable in China.





This deeply personal story follows her rise from rookie reporter to experienced journalist. Her cross-cultural romance gave her deeper insights into how Deng’s reforms led to hopes for better lives. This euphoria—shared by American businesses and Chinese citizens alike—reached its peak in 1989, when peaceful protestors filled Tiananmen Square, demanding democracy. On the ground in Beijing, Dori lived that hope, as well as the despair that followed.





You’ll be inspired by this book of empowerment about a young woman from Ohio who pushed aside barriers to become a foreign correspondent and then persevered despite setbacks.





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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631527517
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	328
Sales rank:	413,321
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

An experienced journalist, author, and speaker, Dori Jones Yang has written seven previous books, including a best-selling business book about Starbucks and two award-winning novels about Chinese children in America. Educated in history at Princeton and in international relations at Johns Hopkins, Dori worked for eight years in the 1980s as a foreign correspondent for Business Week, covering China during its pivotal years. From her current base near Seattle, she also worked as West Coast technology correspondent for U.S. News and World Report. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, she grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and has traveled throughout China over forty years and spoken about her books across the United States. She currently resides in Kirkland, Washington.

Editorial Reviews

Dori Jones Yang has given us two wonderful, East-West coming-of-age stories for the price of one: China’s metamorphosis from poor Communist backwater to quasi-capitalist powerhouse, and her own journey from rookie reporter in the male-dominated world of business journalism to respected foreign correspondent. Both tales come with their share of great leaps forward and troubling setbacks. This chronicle of her two love affairs—with China and with a very special Chinese man—and her steely determination to succeed not only as a professional, but as a colleague, wife, mother, and stepmother, make for an inspirational and rewarding read.”

—Scott D. Seligman, author of The Third Degree: The Triple Murder That Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice

“Captivating! At the onset of China’s embrace of a new openness, the author lands her dream job as a correspondent in Hong Kong covering China for a leading business journal. A pioneering female foreign correspondent, she captures the story of a young gal finding her way—as a journalist and as a woman. Her evolution intersects with dynamic world events, resulting in a mesmerizing tale of personal struggle, vibrant history, and real guts. A remarkable story!”

—Marianne Lile, author of Stepmother: A Memoir

“Dori Jones Yang enfolds us in her frank personal story and the saga of a China just opening its gates to the ‘outside world’ . . . Americans of Yang’s generation in the China field are sure to be swept by nostalgia and vivid reminiscence. Younger readers will see today’s China more clearly after they ingest this saga of opportunity, challenge, frustration, reward, and tenacious love. As America’s relations with China stumble today, looking back to the decade of Yang’s encounter with China is more important than ever.”

—Robert A. Kapp, former president, US-China Business Council

“ When the Red Gates Opened is a riveting, insightful, personal account of a pivotal moment in history: the critical years when China, after alternately starving and stifling its population for decades, began moving toward a more open, market-oriented economy . . . Dori Jones Yang, among the handful of foreign correspondents then who spoke fluent Mandarin, set out to find out for herself, talking to hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong. Today, as China increasingly flexes its muscles on the world stage, this book provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges and promises presented by a complex global power that thinks and operates in ways so different from us.”

—Leslie Helm, author of Yokohama Yankee, My Family’s Five Generations as Outsiders in Japan

From the Publisher