Dragon Blossoms

Linda Bevis, an American teacher and lawyer, first lived in Beijing in 1983. Twenty-five years later, Bevis, her playwright husband, and her young Chinese-born daughter return to China. Aware of the necessity for adopted families to connect with the birth culture, Bevis and her family delve into Chinese community, schools, language, theater, and return to the Jiangsu orphanage where Leyla Fu-Chi spent her early months. In the year preceding the Beijing Olympics, much is said of China, both good and bad. Bevis' journals offer an inside view not usually heard in the West. While writing about pollution, censorship, and human rights violations, she also portrays her Chinese friends and students as diverse, intelligent, kind people with awareness of past injustices, pride in their country, and hope for the Olympics. Tolerant but honest, balancing maternal and pedagogical concerns with cultural awareness and respect for China's traditions, Bevis' careful reflections reveal a complex, diverse, and surprising China.