On the eve of the twentieth century, few places were as exciting as Shanghai. Once a wildness of swamps, Asia's "Sin City" evolved into a dazzling modern-day Babylon: redolent with the sickly sweet smell of opium; teeming with illicit sex, crime, and poverty; rife with corruption and glamorous wealth. In this vibrant history, Stella Dong follows the rise and fall of the city's booming international port, gateway to China's heartland. In intricate, colorful detail, she examines the misdeeds of its criminal underworld, the passions of its citizens decadent appetites, and the revolutionary spirit of its many political refugees. Best of all, she captures the essence of the city as if it were a person who had lived a fascinating and tumultuous life.
On the eve of the twentieth century, few places were as exciting as Shanghai. Once a wildness of swamps, Asia's "Sin City" evolved into a dazzling modern-day Babylon: redolent with the sickly sweet smell of opium; teeming with illicit sex, crime, and poverty; rife with corruption and glamorous wealth. In this vibrant history, Stella Dong follows the rise and fall of the city's booming international port, gateway to China's heartland. In intricate, colorful detail, she examines the misdeeds of its criminal underworld, the passions of its citizens decadent appetites, and the revolutionary spirit of its many political refugees. Best of all, she captures the essence of the city as if it were a person who had lived a fascinating and tumultuous life.
Journalist Stella Dong has written for the New York Times Book Review, Travel & Leisure, and Harper's Bazaar. A first-generation Chinese American, she grew up in Seattle and now lives in New York City. This is her first book.
"A rich tapestry....An entertaining relation of more than a century in one of China's most tumultuous times and cities."-- "New York Times Book Review"Provocative and exciting."-- "Washington Post"A brilliant tableau of creative energy and decadent humanity."-- "Seattle Times
"A rich tapestry....An entertaining relation of more than a century in one of China's most tumultuous times and cities."-- "New York Times Book Review"Provocative and exciting."-- "Washington Post"A brilliant tableau of creative energy and decadent humanity."-- "Seattle Times
In its heyday, Shanghai was known by many names--the emperor's ugly daughter, Sodom and Gomorrah of the Far East and whore of Asia. In her first book, Dong, a journalist and second-generation Chinese-American, has filled her often-absorbing history of the city with vivid details that leave little doubt as to how Shanghai earned its reputation. She also offers tidbits on colorful local personalities, such as the Chinese warlord who never left home without his enormous lacquered teak coffin, the radical American feminist who was indirectly responsible for the end of Mao Zedong's second marriage and the wealthy Chinese businessman whose two younger daughters married Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen. Although the city was inhabited by 250,000 Chinese when the British invaded in 1842, it wasn't long before the nationals were serving the foreigners, who were making Shanghai one of the world's wealthiest business centers. Banking and manufacturing were the respectable professions, but it was opium--controlled largely by foreigners but used largely by Chinese--that built modern Shanghai. The arrogance and excess of foreigners, who set up their own courts, lived lavishly and excluded the Chinese from governing bodies and private clubs, created the uneven balance of power and economics that helped pave the way for Communism. Dong skillfully packs her narrative with all of the city's "sordid pleasures and exploitation," offering an account that is at once informative and entertaining. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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