Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China (2005)

When I first saw the title of the book, Foreign Babes in Beijing, I didn’t know what to expect. Its cover was racy but facetious. I was confused about the title. Was it implying local Chinese women weren’t babes?

The first few chapters cleared up the confusion. This non fiction book is about the author, Rachel, and her first few years as an expatriate in China. Foreign Babes in Beijing is actually the title of a Chinese soap opera she acted in.

I had read and grown tired of the usual books I read about China. Mostly written by Chinese Americans, the stories they shared were good and usually touching, but after reading so many of them, they soon started melting together in my mind. Foreign Babes, written by a western hand offered a different perspective of China. Sometimes I identified with Rachel, since I’ve lived in the US for most of my life, and sometimes I identified with the Chinese locals.

Rachel’s view of China shows Chinese perception of foreigners and their treatment of them. It’s something that I had an inkling of, but not the full details. Each chapter contains an excerpt for the script from the soap opera. Some of them are amusing because of the Chinese stereotype of how foreign women are like.

Foreign Babes in Beijing is an entertaining and eye-opening read and is a nice change of pace from the usual books on China written by Chinese Americans. It made me think about moving back there, but not living the typical expatriate life — I’d rather live like a local. ( )

Subtitle: Behind the Scenes of a New China. From 1994 until 1999 Rachel DeWoskin lived and worked in Beijing - most memorably as Jiexi in a television show entitled Foreign Babes In Beijing. This memoir of her time in the city is both personal to her story but larger as it allows a glimpse into a modern China slowly opening to, and coming to terms with, the larger world. Recommended. ( )

An interesting look at expat life in Beijing in the mid - late 90s. Young American college grad, ends up acting in a Chinese soap as she watches China evolve and grow. ( )

As memoirs go, this story of a recent Columbia grad who ends up starring as a Western hussy in China's most popular soap opera is a fascinating one. I learned a lot about what modern day life in China is like from this book. It was particlarly shocking for me to read that some people there don't keep journals out of fear what they write might be used against them by the government. Still, the tone did get a little academic for me at times and I wish the author had included more of her own personal joureny within her very compelling observations about modern China. ( )

http://www.schlaikjer.net/reviews/143.htm ( )