INTRODUCTIONPART I EXPEDITION TO CHINA01. We landed in Beijing by way of Hong Kong02. Hong Kong, consumer paradise03. The Friendship Hotel04. Our children got new namesPART II A STORM05. A Colombian poet in trouble06. A filmmaker pilloried07. Our first trip back08. Living in China for many years09. Twenty-two lessons learned in China10. In a house with a courtyard, friendship flourishesPART III ANNALS OF CHANGE11. The lead-up to the reform and opening-up 12. Neo-Confucian China and consumption 13. Beijing was a forest of cranes14. Everything changes in China15. Beijing rebuilt in ten years16. No longer what it used to be17. My district, a neighbourhood of alleys18. The commercial aspect of the reforms19. The “floating population” and business fever 20. The reforms through the eyes of two Colombian diplomats 21. Revisiting Beijing 22. China: past and presentPART IV INTERNATIONAL WATCHTOWER23. China and the global crisis 24. China’s position in global geopoliticsPART V CULTURAL TRAITS AND CUSTOMS25. Bird walkers 26. Caged crickets fight 27. In China, grandparents are in charge28. China that hosts the Olympic Games29. Mao Zedong as a poet PART VI REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS30. Launch of En China Dos Veces la Vida31. Seventeen years living in China 32. A long written story about China 33. Margarita gives the note 34. Enrique Posada, a Colombian who knows the most about China 35. The one who has opened the door to China in Colombia