In China these days, Tibet is all the rage: Beijing hipsters lounge in bars festooned with yak horns, pop divas sing ballads about Lhasa, and tourists mob the rooftop of the world. This novel, by a Beijing journalist now living in London, plays into the fantasy of the region as a Wild West populated by noble savages, with much to teach the cosmopolitan Chinese. Purporting to be a fictionalized account of a true story, it tells of a Chinese woman whose husband dies while on an Army expedition in Tibet, in 1958. She heads out west to learn the truth about his death, and winds up living with nomads for three decades, conveniently missing out on the Cultural Revolution. For American readers, the urge to mythologize the frontier will be familiar; but here there are no bad guys, only misunderstandings.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

geht mit der China-Box auf Reisen

I think I have seen this in a bookstore before, and thought that it sounds interesting. So, here is my chance to actually read it. :o)

12.9. In fact, I just discovered it in my own wishlist "Wished for on 6/16/2009" so can now set it to granted :o)

"At the fifth mountain, Pad gave birth to a daughter and named her Zhuoma." (p.110)

(I'm usually one for long entries... but when I read this sentence I thought that it would make the perfect JE as it somehow summarises the vastness of the Tibetan plateau and the clarity of the language of the book. I finished it today and I have already bought another copy to give to my friend who spent time in Nepal and China and might find this a good read too.)
Oh, yes, the book will stay in the box which I hope I can send on very soon.

Om mani padme hum

Addendum: My friend told me that she'd actually witnessed a sky burial (from some distance of course) but :o-

The book came to me in the China-Box.

I will read the German version of the book which is already with me.

I found the book on the wishlist of linguistkris.

Thank you so much for this! (I didn't even notice any delay as I was struggling to finish a ring and a few wishlist books anyway. :))
Seeing how much I enjoyed my first encounter with Xinran, I'm much looking forward to this.

Also, I find the dedication, written on the flyleaf in a slightly girlish script, rather touching:

15th of July 2007
For Mrs Kidd
lover [sic]
X Jennifer Mannion

:)