With 2008, being the year of the Olympic games in Beijing, China, with its expected large influx of overseas visitors, there has been renewed interest in what life is like for the Chinese people. Consequently, I have been reading several books by Chinese women writers who threw some interesting light on many aspects of Chinese life.

Geling Yan's book "White Snake and Other Stories" is set mostly during and after the Cultural Revolution and examines the hearts and minds of people who find themselves thrust into unlikely intimacy with strangers who embody different histories and different desires. Indeed one story, "Celestial Bath" is the basis of Joan Chen's award-winning film "Xiu Xiu - The Sent Down Girl".

The legend of the White Snake is the basis for Chinese Opera and concerns two mythical serpents (nagas), who had attained the status of Immortals and lived in the heavens.

Also of great interest is Hong Ying's book "Summer of Betrayal" which portrays the aftermath of Tiananmen Square and the betrayal of the author by her lover, forcing her to strike out on her own into the maelstrom of terror and risk that Beijing has become.

Anhua Gao's book "To the Edge of the Sky" gives the reader a detailed insight into the harsh realities of the Cultural Revolution. The author's life was torn apart by the whims of Chinese Officials and she was eventually thrown into jail, accused of being an enemy agent because she spoke English. While there she experienced appalling deprivations and bore witness to hideous torture - this is a a deep and disturbing book about the life of the Chinese people behind the bamboo curtain.