The Years That Were Fat: Peking, 1933-40 (Oxford in Asia Paperbacks) Book

For seven years, from 1933 to 1940, George N. Kates--a native American--immersed himself in the inner world of Peking by living a simple and leisurely life in a traditional house inside the old Imperial City in Peking. Consciously reconstructing the lifestyle of the vanished scholar class, Kates came to know China as few other Westerners have known it. Kates offers in this volume a celebration of a city, its buildings, its people and way of life, its customs, and its rhythms and moods, capturing those aspects of Peking that today exist merely as memories. Kates' rare understanding of China's cultural heritage enables him to convey to the reader his admiration for the Chinese sense of harmony and proportion in all things. This edition of Kates' book, which first appeared in 1952, includes an introduction by Pamela Atwell, the author of British Mandarins and Chinese Reformers: The British Administration of Weihaiwei (1898-1930) and the Territory's Return to Chinese Rule.Read More