James A. Pantano
Description
Carried by a donkey during the People's Liberation Army's triumphant march to Beijing in 1948-49, a newborn at the birth of New China.
Spent her fo
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rmative years in an idyllic showcase boarding kindergarten, sometimes sitting on the lap of frequent visitor Ho Chi Minh.
Daughter of a cabinet minister and member of the communist elite, she saw up-close the power struggles as the turbulent years unfolded: purges, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and reform attempts.
Marched with Che Guevara through Tiananmen Square while in middle school.
Faced a crowd of thousands calling her names during the Cultural Revolution. She was forced to watch her mother being tortured by Red Guards.
Treated ailing villagers as a barefoot doctor in a commune.
Swam across the Yangtze with a rifle on her back when she was a soldier in the People's Liberation Army.
Defied the commissars by folk-dancing in England when she was a government exchange student and under tight control.
Trekked the roof of the world in Tibet and Nepal as a tour guide, and savored a high-altitude romance with her mountaineering French lover.
Interpreted for Chinese delegations in UN and private meetings with George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Ferdinand Marcos, and Pope John Paul II.
Entered UC Berkeley and earned a master's and a Ph.D. in comparative l
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