Expats have been keeping diaries and writing memoirs of their exciting experiences in China for time immemorial, though not until the 1980s, beginning with one Mark Salzman, followed by the omnipresent Peter Hessler, have their careers as published authors launched a few fortunate foreigners in China into superstar status.
Here is a list of memoirs written within the past 2 decades by 40 fabulous foreigners in China. Some are sorely dated, some are eternal, some are clichéd, some are groundbreaking; but, when read a as collective work, all offer a very revealing, and entertaining, observation of life in the oldest (and arguably mysterious) civilization in the world.
1) Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing by Alan Paul
Alan Paul, China's latest "it-pat," stormed the Beijing scene as an expat blogger for the Wall Street Journal, the frontman for an infectiously-enjoyable bar band, and father of three. His entertaining memoir explains how he became so Big in China.
2) The Foremost Good Fortune by Susan Conley
Susan Conley, a saint amongst female expats in China, writes beautifully about her life as an expat wife, raising 2 children in China…and her battle with breast cancer in Beijing.
3) River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
"Perpetually Publicized Peter," as expat expert Peter Hessler is known in literary circles due to his high name recognition, has authored 3 acclaimed books on his experiences in China. River Town, about teaching English, is his most popular.
4) Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel DeWoskin
Rachel DeWoskin was the star of the popular 90's-era Chinese soap opera "Foreign Babes in Beijing". DeWoskin has fueled the bedtime fantasties of millions of Chinese men. This is her story.
5) CHINA: Portrait of a People by Tom Carter
Photojournalist Tom Carter has lived in China for nearly a decade - and spent a quarter of that time traveling over 56,000 kilometers across all 33 provinces in China. His book CHINA: Portrait of a People is a photographic record of his record-breaking odyssey.
6) Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons In Life, Love, And Language by Deborah Fallows
Deborah Fallows' diary/dictionary Dreaming in Chinese is the latest "must-read" book for expat students learning Chinese. Combining language translation with her own personal cultural observations, Fallows teaches as much as she entertains.
7) Mr. China: A Memoir by Tim Clissold
Many a western author have written about their successes in, and "expertise" on, doing business with the Chinese. Tim Clissold just might be the first to exploit his failures.
8) Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman
Mark Salzman was teaching English in China while the rest of us were still in Key Stage 2. His Bible-status memoir (and the movie based on it) is renowned for "opening the door" for future China expats the world-over.
9) Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux
Along with Salzman and Hessler, Theroux is another 80's-era "Old China Hand" whose books have become a staple in the literary diet of foreigners and backpackers across Asia. Severely dated, but considered essential expat reading.
10) The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester
Simon Winchester is one of the UK's most prolific authors. His novels about China are best-sellers, but it is in his memoir about his own journeys meandering along the Yangtze River where we REALLY get to know Mr. Winchester - and China.