过去30年中国经济的崛起，无疑是人类历史上最令人瞩目的事件之一，也是中华民族奋进史上最值得记录的一段光辉岁月。

在西方人眼里，中国的巨变始终是一个谜。这里有着极其特殊的文化背景与意识形态，有着异常复杂的经济格局与利益冲突，如何引领一个拥有十几亿人口的农业大国迈向现代化，堪称是“前无古人，后无来者”的巨大命题，其探索之艰辛、震荡之激烈超乎任何人的想象。

The ascent of China's economy over the past thirty years may be one of the more remarkable happenings in human history. Few understand it. Those outside China consider the massive changes a mystery. Those inside China have been challenged with taking more than 1.3 billion people from an agrarian existence into the modern world, and in the face of complex economics involving extreme conflicts of interest. Nobody ever did it before; nobody will ever do it again. Given the convulsive upheavals required, the difficulty of the task has been, and remains, hard to imagine.

This book describes those upheavals and that process over the years from 1978 to 2008. It represents a remarkable achievement in condensing a welter of events and changes down to the bare essentials. In summing up a period of history, it also serves as a query about what is to come next. Where are the convulsive changes leading, not only for China, but for the world.

Every stretch of history has its own internal logic. The reader of this book may be confronted with a more "real" China than he has known before. Under the surface ripples, diverging streams, uneven tumult, he may discern the middle of the channel, that greater internal logic at work. it represents the flow of a people, quite an ancient nation of people, coursing with all vigor, all courage, all hope, toward an uncertain future.

Preface/1

1 The Beginning: 1978-1983/3

 Deng Opens the Door to the World/4

 Where Will the Money Come from?/15

 Shenzhen Special Economic Zone/21

 Reform at Capital Steel/27

 Shooting Stars in the Countryside/34

2 Commotion and Tumult: 1984-1992/41

 1984, the "Founding Year" of Major Chinese Enterprises/42

 A Two-track Pricing Policy and a Trip to Hainan Island/52

 Allowing Prices to "Break through the Pass"/63

 "Harnessing and Rectifying"/69

3 Radical Dreams: 1993-1997/83

 Ruling over Chaos with an "Iron Wrist"/85

 Price Wars/97

 Becoming One of the Fortune 500/103

 Unexpected Changes/111

4 Swamps and Landmines: 1998-2002/119

 Some Hairpins/120

 The Birthing of the Stock Market, and Its Chronic Problems/129

 Stride on over the Rainbow/138

 The China Threat/147

5 Responsibility and Reason: 2003-2008/153

 SARS, Housing Bubbles, Electricity Panics/154

 Trade Frictions/162

 Internet Economics/176

 Great Nation Passion/184

 Crossroads/191

Acknowledgments/196