From 2001 - 2004, Steve Koss lived in Suzhou, China, a city so renowned for its magnificent classical gardens, rich cultural heritage, and beautiful women that a centuries-old proverb describes it as paradise on Earth. There he met Ping Ping (his wife-to-be), lived in a middle class building in a neighborhood where foreigners were rarely seen, shopped the local markets, taught in the university, and became a guest teacher at two local high schools where he introduced those students (and their teachers) to Western life from The Simpsons and South Park to Christmas carols and poetry slams. With Ping Ping ever-present at his side, Steve explored the city's ancient Buddhist temples, World Cultural Heritage gardens, and thousand-year-old Precious Belt Bridge as well as its quiet, canal-hugging lanes, newest shopping districts, and modern high-rise apartment complexes going up in the city's two, rapidly expanding suburban industrial parks. Yet even as he was discovering a China few outsiders see, Steve watched the old city disappearing under waves of industrialization, Westernization, and massive urban renewal and expansion. Through his personal experiences and observations, Steve Koss captures the country's poignant struggle to maintain its traditions while integrating new wealth, technology, and cultural influences from the West. His book opens a deeply personal window into the changing soul of an ancient city.

What if you could reverse disease – or learn how to avert it before its onset? What if, instead of aging, you could feel younger, stronger, and happier with each passing year? What if you could maintain your health for your entire life? What if all the secrets to health and longevity were on the soles of your feet? The wisdom in this book has been passed down from master to student for thousands of years, but now you too can benefit from the powerful Eastern practice of Chinese reflexology. This ancient therapeutic art of foot massage offers you a way to harness Universal Qi, a limitless source of healing energy, and restore yourself to balance, harmony, and health. Holistic healer and reflexologist Holly Tse brings new light to this millennia-old practice and reveals the curative power of Chinese reflexology in a friendly and contemporary way. Using clear illustrations and delightful step-by-step instructions, she’ll embolden you to use this extraordinary process and take you on a journey through the three catalysts to incredible healing that encompass mind, body, and soul: shifting the mind, healing with energy, and following your heart and soul. Sole Guidance is a fun, vibrant, and easy-to-understand guide to complete self-transformation from the inside out. Learn how to hear your inner guidance, connect with your "Dragon Spirit," discover what your body needs to heal and thrive, and revolutionize your life – simply by massaging your feet!

From the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist: a revelatory portrait of religion in China today, its history, the spiritual traditions of its Eastern and Western faiths, and the ways in which it is influencing China's future. Following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is now awash with new temples, churches, and mosques as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty over what it means to be Chinese, and how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality a century ago and is still searching for new guideposts. Ian Johnson lived for extended periods with underground church members, rural Daoists, and Buddhist pilgrims. He has distilled these experiences into a cycle of festivals, births, deaths, detentions, and struggle a great awakening of faith that is shaping the soul of the world s newest superpower. (With black-and-white illustrations throughout).