Rating: 
Summary: Distilled and Tasteful Vision of Chinese People
Review: Mark Salzman managed to convey the essence of the Chinese political system and the manner that the basic culture and manners have survived its attempts to remake it. Salzman is able to do this by first exposing his own personal traits, his obsessive need to "keep moving" in order to avoid worries and other aspects of solitude and an unoccupied mind. His quests to learn martial arts, caligraphy and Chinese art and customs were also opportunities to discover the 'hidden' China, the secrets that the people must whisper to avoid waking the dragon of a system and censorship. He met an embittered sculptor whose most valued possession was an old postcard of Michaelangelo's David. He ate in Chinese households, his bowl constantly full, while the children and uncles waited their turn; the leftovers to be distributed when he had finished. Hospitality, respect, the obligation of children to their parents have remained essentially in tact, despite the often absurd connivances of the revolutionary government.For high school students, Salzman manages to distil the history of the cultural revolution, the falacies that are emitted from a highly controlled media and that are part of a repressive and unsympathetic government that led, ironically, to Tienneman Square, the day after, the author flew home. While the government forbade Salzman any more practice time in the specialized martial arts, the people continued to train and honor him. We find repeatedly that these people retain a deep and profound interest in foreigners and especially Americans. That the Chinese looked down upon dark skinned people was easily established when a Sudanese told his tale of a black man living in that enormous country. The best history, is validated by the voice of the people and this book is an exquisite example of the show don't tell maxim. His friendship with Pan, a famed and dying master of the martial arts, is an unlikely and rare sign of hope in a world where the people and not the police states or ideologies prevail.
Rating:
Summary: Window into Another World
Review: I just re-read this book about 10 years after my first read. It is wonderful -- evocative of a distant world and fast-receding time. I am truly astounded by the drive of Mark Salzman to be able to fashion himself into someone who could attract the respect of the people of China, not just as a curiousity, but as an honest devotee. Salzman's eye for both the beautiful and the mundane or even ugly is what great literature (fiction or nonfiction) is made of.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite
Review: I cannot get enough of Salzman's books. This is by far my favorite. His sense of place and compassionate observation of other cuural points of view is refreshing. Be sure to read his other books. Thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: Very easy to read
Review: I felt sad when it comes to the end of the book. It seems that I was departing away from a part of his life in China all together. This book is very easy to read, and it is quite honest. He tells the story as if you were there to witness. And the people are all so different and interesting. His writting is not biased, or stereotyped. Anyway, so after I read the book, I checked out his profile online. I just imaged that he would be as young as what he described in the book. He is 44 already, married to a Chinese American woman.
Rating:
Summary: Review the Book, not the Man, but if you want to.......
Review: When this book first appeared, I used it in an urban adult ESL class that was full of immigrants of all ages from China. They enjoyed it and occasionaly argued about parts. Then, a wonderful thing happened. Salzman was in town and agreed to visit our class. What a dear, sweet, and entertaining person he was--speaking in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English--keeping the students laughing for a couple of hours. He also appeared in a public talk with a very different kind of audience--and kept it just as fully entertained.
When the movie of the book came out, and Salzman played himself, I thought it was a bit much, but I can't deny his acting skill.
In answer to questions in the "review" of Lemas Mitchell (see below):
1. Unresolved characters: Who was the girl with whom he took a bike ride? Is this the one that later became his wife?
----Yes, that -was- unresolved, and we asked him about it. He was reticent, even shy about saying more.
He married a California Chinese-American woman, not the woman on the bike. His wife has been an award-winning independent film-maker.
2. Overly-romantic view of some Chinese cultural habits that would consider inappropriate:
----This was humor.
3. Self absorption: Was he really a kung-fu master? Was it all in his own head? Was his Chinese really that good after an undergraduate degree?
----He never said he was a master; rather, he had a master as a teacher. His study of martial arts was what led him into Chinese studies in the first place. Yes, his skill in the language(s) was good. Chinese literature was, I believe, his major at Yale, from which he graduated with honors.
----
I'm here reading reviews because I'm thinking of using the book again with college level ESL students and wanted to check out the current attitudes.
Rating:
Summary: Zen-like wisdom
Review: a book of vignettes from Salzman's experience as a foreigner in China. Sent to teach English to medical students, Salzman soon discovers that he is as much student as teacher. The cultural differences are portrayed without the slightest degree of bias, either pro- or anti-Western. These shorts are almost Zen, neither explained nor explainable, just there. If one can comprehend the situation, or the motivations of all participants, then they make sense--otherwise, they remain hidden, waiting for the reader to achieve the knowledge necessary for enlightenment. But the stories are always entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Self Aggrandizement/ Rose Colored Glasses
Review: This is yet another book in the long list of those written by English teachers who has a romanticized view of China. As someone who did the whole "Live and Teach in China" thing, I was impressed by the quality of his writing. The bad points: 1. Unresolved characters: Who was the girl with whom he took a bike ride? Is this the one that later became his wife? What ever happened to the teacher? Did he die before the book was published? 2. Overly-romantic view of some Chinese cultural habits that would would consider inappropriate: 1. Lying; 2.Obsession with rules and regulations about things; 3. Narrowness 3. Self absorption: Was he really a kung-fu master? Was it all in his own head? Was his Chinese really that good after an undergraduate degree? Good points: 1. The fact that he actually wrote about the book as someone who was aware of his surroundings. Most who go to China hear the Chinese repeat the line about how great they are SO MANY TIMES, that they actually start to believe it. 2. Observsation of how out of touch people tend to be with reality, thanks to the CCP's propaganda machine. This book was written nearly 20 years ago and it is no less accurate now than then. People still think that Mao's army defeated the Japanese and ran them out of China. And, more generally, they still rewrite all the history books to say what they want them to say.
Rating: 
Summary: the karate kid goes to china
Review: so, when you go to live in a foreign country, all you need to do is learn the language - right? salzman tromps through china with the maturity of a 15-year-old. he never bothers to learn the local culture and we watch him trip up repeatedly in awkward and embarassing situations. the tale of his dinner with his martial arts teacher made me cringe with shame. reading his commentary on situations is painful and by the end of the book i was disgusted: it's obvious that he learned nothing from his experiences, returning to the states with the same naivete and ignorance with which he began his journey. salzman wasted his time travelling to china. don't waste yours reading his book.
Rating: 
Summary: Take with a BIG grain of salt!
Review: Initially, I was bowled over by this book. After a year spent teaching English in China, fellow foreign teachers (many of whom had studied China and Chinese for years) and I realized how self-serving the book is. Salzman frequently compliments himself in terms of his fluency in Chinese--of course, there is no way for the reader to get any sense whether his perception is correct! Most foreigners find fluency extremely difficult to obtain. Furthermore, Salzman indicates that many Chinese found him to be quite special--never mind that he wrote in an era when any American (let alone one studying martial arts) in China would be considered very "exotic." Once I realized these central problems in the book, they undermined my trust in his perceptions. (For example, does anyone else think his description of biking with the young Chinese woman is a bit creepy?)
Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: As a person that has studied East Asian cultural history academically for years, and a person who will be teaching China just
four months from now, I found this book to be perfect. It was not written by a scholar, and I think in reality that is what makes
it great. It is simply a man with a love for Asian culture, who came to be exposed to the reality of modern China. Still, even with
all the hardships, his love remained. It is a testament to Americans that can see beyond the perceptions built by our own
society, and also to the Chinese culture that was able to shine even under the political turmoil. Mark Salzman would not only
write a wonderful book from his experience, but he also carried the beauty of wushu back to the United States, which is an
accomplishment in and of itself. This book has incredible insight into Chinese culture, of course from an American perspective.
There are too many good points about this book, and the movie that was produced as a result, to begin to list them here. I
suggest you simply buy it and be prepared for a very enjoyable read, and maybe possibly a change in your perceptions.
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