Huang Hua just celebrated his 96th birthday. A graduate of Yenching University, he is a typical Chinese progressive intellectual of his time. In old China the suffering of the mon people and the pressing danger of losing the sovereignty of the entire nation led Huang Hua and millions of young people to join the struggle for China’s liberation. Huang Hua’s memoir is a book describing his more than 70 years of activities as a revolutionary and a diplomat. It reflects also many significant aspects of China’s modern political history. In his posts as ambassador and foreign minister he witnessed a great range of events in international relations and participated in the realization of the foreign policy of New China. As to the book’s style of writing, it is just like the character of the author-clear and straightforward, so it is easy to read and prehend.

Zhouzhuang embraces the beauties of all the water towns in China - old bridges, traditional buildings and small streets on the banks of waterways. Its Shuangqiao Bridges (Twin Bridges) became famous worldwide because of the painting Memory of Hometown by weU-known painter Chen Yifei (1946-2005)and its display in a New York gallery in 1984.Another bridge in the town, Fu'an Bridge (Wealth and Peace Bridge), is the only existing structure in southeastern China that perfectly bines a single-arch bridge with abddge tower.