I read Mark Salzman's Iron and Silk this week- what an amazing book. I loved it and I was sorry when I finished it. It's a true story about the author's time as a teacher in pre-Tiananmen Massacre China, around 1984 or so. He writes hilarious and touching vignettes of his experiences with his pupils, as well as tales about a family of poor fishermen, and all of the martial arts and other cultural teachers that he meets during his time there. Here is an excerpt:

I enjoyed the time I spent with Pan very much, though I must admit I preferred the time he was teaching me wushu to the time he was teaching me how to teach him English. I remember with special clarity how close to madness I came the day he decided to learn how to tell time. He managed to find a broken clock, set its hands at exactly twelve o'clock, then asked me how to say what time it was. After he had repeated "It's twelve o'clock" to his satisfaction, he moved the minute hand exactly one minute forward to 12:01. "How do you say this?" he asked.

Right now I am reading a more serious book about a Tibetan woman who spent 27 years in prison when the Chinese took over Tibet. She was tortured and raped during that time, but eventually managed to escape to India. I'm only about half way through so I don't know all the details yet. It's called Ama Adhe: The Voice That Remembers. It was weird when I was in Tibet, because I have a huge love for the Chinese people and culture, and an equal love and respect for the Tibetans. In fact, the Tibetan way of life is even more admirable. So it almost bred a certain amount of cognitive dissonance, knowing what I do about the way the Chinese have treated the Tibetans. But of course, the individual people of both nations are hardly responsible for the actions of their governments and armies and such. Anyways, if you are interested in knowing more about Tibet's history regarding the Chinese occupation and the Dalai Lama's exile to Dharamsala, I recommend In Exile from the Land of Snows, by John Avedon.