Shifting Gears in China

Following on from four years in China during the final throes of the Cultural Revolution — told in Intruder in Mao’s Realm — after 1980, Richard Kirkby became a serial visitor to the country. This, his second volume of China tales, sees him appearing in a variety of guises: academic researcher, thwarted business go-between, antiques hunter, earnest peace envoy. His wide-eyed travels also take him to Tibetan lands in the far interior of this ever-transforming nation.