A Life in Shanghai

Born just before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War that meant the end of "Old Shanghai," Frank writes in a literary, narrative style, giving readers a picture of Chinese society and the country as it evolved beyond recognition in his own lifetime. 

A few details suffice to give the flavor of life under Japanese rule in Shanghai prior to World War II. With Japan's surrender in 1945, Chiang Kaishek ruled over China. Life in that period was the best for Frank, as private business flourished and his father prospered. 

But when Chiang Kaishek was defeated by the Communist Party and fled to Taiwan in 1949, Frank lived through all the subsequent turmoil and all the great leaps forward and backward under Chairman Mao. 

Data is included that indicate the number of deaths in the various upheavals. After Mao and the arrest of so-called the Gang of Four, Deng Xiaoping adopted a more open policy and started on the capitalist road financially, but he refused to make any revisions politically. 

Meanwhile, the Chinese people had been allured by the ideals of democracy and freedom of speech as promoted by the West, and longed for the chimera of a life of ease and abundance, while corruption grew. Frank took the first opportunity to go to the US and taste a new world for himself.