SECTION ONEOur Endeavours Were Treasured with Enriched ExperiencesMy Choice of the TitleChina, or Fulfillment of Desire"I"Growing up through Vivid ImagesThe Pearl: My Path, My Tao, an Allegiance to the PearlThe Pearl RoadInvoking My MemoriesHailing the Far EastChanging ItinerariesThe EncounterPearl, the Queen of GemsThe Wind of Change Was Coming from ChinaA Big Responsibility for a Lucrative MarketingEfficiency and PerformanceGood Intentions Badly InterpretedSome Polemics about the PearlForeseeing the FutureBig Demands Enhanced to the Cultivation of Big PearlsThe History of Fancy ��Baroque�� Long and Big PearlsPotential BuyersThe Symbol of a QueenFreshwater Pearls Are Also QueensThe Birth of a QueenDepletion of Thousand Oysters to Price One PearlThe Natural Pearl ��Perles Fines��The Cultured PearlsThe Freshwater Cultured PearlsThe Akoya Cultured PearlsHistory of PearlsHailing ChinaAffirming Its Rank Siding the Big NationsHarnessing Nature to RecallAncient Ruins, Modern Cities: China in the 1970sSECTION TWOThe Entrance Door Was Hong KongOmnipotent"What Goes Around Comes Around"A Rich Man in Hong KongOn Our Way to GuangzhouMy HusbandBack to the Train"What Goes Around Comes Around"The Reminiscence of My Chinese Old FriendGuangzhouMy Predilection on Women IssueThere Was a Snake on My Table"Le roi est mort, vive le roi neuf"��The King Passed Away, Long Live the New King��Nanjing, JiangsuBack to NanjingEminent CapitalThe Yangtze and Its Counterparts and ParallelsMy Birthday Cake Was Made of Trees and WoodOur Chinese GuardianBuddhist TempleBuddhism and Its Role in China Temple without Spirit or the Ageless SpiritSong of Poet Li Po 1O6The Shortest Way to the Crescent Is a Straight Line IO My Acquaintances with JadeJades Are Green and Multicolour and Unbounded Like NatureMy Second BaptismMy Second InitiationShanghai"Xintiandi"Historic ShanghaiPearl ForumAt the Golden BeachBeijing, the Elegant Strait-laced CapitalLooking Ahead by Looking BackThe HutongsComing to Meet Authentic Natives ofHutongForbidden CityDowager Summer PalaceThe Great WallEpilogue