Straying from the "travel magazine" China of the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, this engaging memoir immerses itself in the reality of a nation struggling to emerge into the 21st century. When Susan McKee and her husband Robert travel to China to teach English near a large but antiquated city, they learn to view China from the inside out, without guile or agenda. Challenges await them at every turn, from navigating the complicated communist bureaucracy to simply finding food they can recognize at the market. As they begin to earn the trust and friendship of their students, they gain a deeper understanding of human experience and how it translates across political and cultural boundaries.