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A smart, funny, insightful peek into
modern China through the eyes of a "foreign babe."
Hoping to improve her Chinese and broaden her cultural horizons,
Rachel DeWoskin went to work for an American PR firm in China.
Before she knew it, she was not just exploring but making
Chinese culture—as the sexy, aggressive, fearless Jexi,
star of a wildly successful soap opera. A sort of Chinese
counterpart to Sex in the City revolving around Chinese-Western
culture clashes, the show was called Foreign Babes in Beijing.
Living the clashes in real life while playing out a parallel
version onscreen, Rachel forms a group of friends with whom
she witnesses the vast changes sweeping through China as the
country pursues the new maxim that "to get rich is glorious."
In only a few years, billboards, stylish bars and discos,
international restaurants, fashion shows, divorce, foreign
visitors, and cross-cultural love affairs transform the face
of China's capital. Foreign Babes in Beijing is as
astute and informative as it is witty, moving, and entertaining.
Rachel DeWoskin was a soap-opera
star and consultant in Beijing for five years before she returned
to the United States. She divides her time between New York
City and Beijing, teaches poetry, and writes Chinese rap.
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