China Unicorn Memoirs

Rating:
Summary: Western powers control China for 200 years and left in 1997
Review: China unicorn memoirs, is a historical action spanning, three generations, of an American opium trader's family in China.
Andrew Goodwest came with the China traders after the shipping slump in the south in the 1820's. Three generations of an American opium trader's life in China. How western powers, came and dominated China for 200 years.
Modern heroine Lily Shan and David, her boyfriend, unravels Goodwest's chronicles of a unicorn revered by the secret societies, which vowed, in 1644 to drive out the Ching dynasty and persevered till 1911.
Andrew Goodwest a Chinese opium trader, came to China to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend, help founded Hong Kong then Shanghai around 1850's. He made friends with triad leaders, learns about empress dowager Tsu Tsi's plan to have an imperial baby, followed opium wars which opened 22 Treaty ports, and sprouted a flood of Christian missions along ports on the Yang Zi river in China.
His son, Ben Goot befriended a top Taiping rebel king, who passed the unicorn to Lily's ancestor, Shan, who smuggled the unicorn to America. Fortunes of Taiping War veterans in California was told. The next story was about the rebels of Sun Yat San who fought the Warlords of China. Sun started an army school to train a modern army. His disciple Kar Sher defeats the Warlords but is chased by the Japanese to Chung King. Ben is part of it all. Next, Ben's granddaughter, Mai Lin lives through 1920's Shanghai, Warlords, Long March, Life of Triad Boss Hwang, civil wars and the Hong Kong handover.
Lily Shan meets Mai Lin in 1995, proves the unicorn belongs to the American tongs and defeats Dragon Wu. He demands, a final duel. Lily 's champion a Tibetan, wins the duel. She makes peace with Dragon's daughter, Christina. The theme is about how the west came and dominated China for 200 years. Characters of each era come alive in Lily's eyes and a present day HK Triad boss Dragon Wu is in conflict with the American tongs over the unicorn.