Foreign Babes in Beijing

Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China - Rachel DeWoskin
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. - 2005
332 pages

       When recent Columbia graduate Rachel DeWoskin couldn't figure out what to do after graduation, she decided to try going to China.  That may sound a bit like another book I reviewed, namely Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, but instead Rachel has been to China repeatedly growing up.  She has already studied the language in college and her father is a former professor who has lived and taught about China.  She decides to try getting a job in China and gets one offer from a company in Beijing.

       While working in Beijing, she auditions for a roll in an evening Chinese-language soap opera named Foreign Babes in Beijing.  She is cast as Jiexi, an American student and "babe" who falls for a married Chinese man.  The memoir tells of her time in Beijing, cultural misunderstandings,  and how she reacts to her fame once Foreign Babes in Beijing becomes a hit.

       From the cover photo, you'd think this book was pretty racy, but pretty much the most racy bit is the first chapter when, while filing, she's asked to take her clothes off while filming.  It is a great opening hook into her time in China, but it is not totally indicative of the rest of the book.  Thinking back, it probably is the most racy scene in the book.

       Overall, I enjoyed this book.  It's a quick read, and I felt I did learn from it.  The book seemed to end a bit more abruptly than I thought it would.  I would definitely read another book by the author, but this book, towards the end, seemed to lack a bit of the narrative that Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven contained.  However, this still gets a thumbs up from me.  Would I read something else by the author...depending on the subject matter, most likely.
  
Rating: 3.5 of 5