Author(s): Rachel DeWoskin

Biography & Memoir

A true, moving and funny portrait of a China most Western readers know nothing about. Hoping to improve her Chinese and broaden her cultural horizons, Rachel DeWoskin went to work for an American PR firm in China. Before she knew it, she was not just exploring, but making Chinese culture, as the sexy and aggressive, fearless Jiexi, star of a wildly successful soap opera. A Chinese counterpart to Sex and the City revolving around Chinese-Western culture clashes, the show was called Foreign Babes in Beijing. Living the clashes in real life while playing out a parallel version onscreen, Rachel forms a group of friends with whom she witnesses the vast changes sweeping through China. In only a few years, billboards, stylish bars and discos, international restaurants, fashion shows, divorce, foreign visitors, and cross-cultural love affairs transform the face of China's capital. Foreign Babes in Beijing is as astute and informative as it is witty, moving and entertaining.