Overview

Few can forget the scalding images of defiance and bravery that appeared on television screens in 1989. Teeming masses of students made history in Tiananmen Square, and united their voices in protest of China's Communist regime. Impassioned young libertarians stood their ground in front of advancing tanks, stared down the menace of hulking canons and withstood two weeks of mounting tension. In the end, military forces charged in and brutally suppressed the revolt, killing untold numbers of students and ordering the arrest of all responsible for the protest. Over the next two years, Chinese police managed to account for every one of these student leaders - except one. This memoir provides a first-person account of how China's most-wanted fugitive trumped overwhelming obstacles and evaded a ruthless police search for more than two years before finding freedom in the West. Travelling across the frozen terrain of the former Soviet Union, where Russian peasants rescued him, and finding his way through the deserted lands of China's precarious borders, Zhang had little but his extraordinary will to keep him moving, surviving for months at a time on wild animals. In the course of his long ordeal, he loses his love, finds God and eventually freedom.

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9780743431613

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Reviews

Perry Link<p>Professor of East Asian Studies, Princeton University, author of China's New Rulers <p>This book should be required reading for those who accept uncritically Chinese government claims to represent 'China.' The little people in this saga, generous and quiet, are China, too.<p>

Publishers Weekly Incisive, fast-paced....Zhang Boli presents his exploits modestly, but one is awed at every turn by his steely nerve andstreet savvy, and by the compassion that he liberally accords to humans, animals, and the land that gave him shelter. Perry Link Professor of East Asian Studies, Princeton University, author of China's New Rulers This book should be required reading for those who accept uncritically Chinese government claims to represent 'China.' The little people in this saga, generous and quiet, are China, too. Publishers Weekly Incisive, fast-paced....Zhang Boli presents his exploits modestly, but one is awed at every turn by his steely nerve andstreet savvy, and by the compassion that he liberally accords to humans, animals, and the land that gave him shelter. Andrew J. Nathan Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, co-editor of The Tiananmen Papers An instant classic....Zhang Boli's searing memories are brought to life with a wealth of concrete detail....He loses all, and gains all -- a classic human quest told in fresh form. Perry LinkProfessor of East Asian Studies, Princeton University, author of China's New Rulers This book should be required reading for those who accept uncritically Chinese government claims to represent 'China.' The little people in this saga, generous and quiet, are China, too. Publishers Weekly Incisive, fast-paced....Zhang Boli presents his exploits modestly, but one is awed at every turn by his steely nerve andstreet savvy, and by the compassion that he liberally accords to humans, animals, and the land that gave him shelter. Andrew J. NathanProfessor of Political Science, Columbia University, co-editor of The Tiananmen Papers An instant classic....Zhang Boli's searing memories are brought to life with a wealth of concrete detail....He loses all, and gains all -- a classic human quest told in fresh form.

Author Information

Zhang Boli was a student organiser during the uprisings in Tiananmen Square. Now a priest in Los Angeles, he is a prominent figure and speaker in the Chinese-American community.

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