BEIJING BOUND

Loveland blends memoir, travelogue, and geopolitical commentary in this nonfiction exploration of modern China.

As an American living in Beijing from 2007 to 2020, the author watched with alarm as U.S.-China relations deteriorated during the administration of President Donald Trump. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government reversed a culture of openness fostered during the leadup to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the Covid-19 pandemic worsened Chinese authoritarianism. In this book, Loveland seeks, in part, to dispel American stereotypes of China, as well as give a glimpse into life before Xi. To that end, he crafts an engaging narrative of a country “poised on the brink of a new and exciting future, a time when the ‘Chinese Dream’ represented a beacon of optimism and potential.” He filters this though a memoir of his experiences of a gay, 30-something expatriate who moved to China after a sense of disillusionment caused him to abandon his career on Capitol Hill, working as a staffer for U.S. Rep. Tom Udall. In Beijing, Loveland worked for American firms, including the Walt Disney Company, and became the first non-Chinese person to work in the China Global Television Network’s human resources department. His book provides valuable geopolitical insights; for instance, he analyzes how Australian politicians “overplayed their hand” by leaning too heavily into economic dependence on China, based on his work with the Australia International Trade Association. He also provides nuanced takes that challenge Western notions of the country; for instance, he looks at the government’s inconsistent enforcement of its infamous one-child policy.

The book’s most compelling sections center on the author’s sex life, and his reflections on China’s LGBTQ+ community. He writes that he “wrongly assumed homosexuality was still taboo” in China, and he highlights how his early relationships with female colleagues were misconstrued, as friendships between men and women “signaled courtship intentions” in Chinese culture. Loveland writes that he had a “burgeoning sex life” in Beijing, where he familiarized himself with the local lingo; many gay people, he says, used the Chinese Communist term for “comrade” to refer to themselves. However, he also notes how social conventions have kept many gay people from coming out; one of Loveland’s partners, for instance, was a man who married a woman not due to governmental or familial pressure, but because of his job: “If you aren’t married, it can kill your career,” the man asserted,as many bosses insist on employees with spouses. Loveland is critical of the Xi government; for example, he documents the 2019 closing of a popular English-language bookstore, the Bookworm, and laments the arrest of his colleague,news anchor Cheng Lei, on questionable espionage charges. At the same time, he effectively expresses awe at the beauty, personality, and history of Beijing, which he describes as “a clashing mosaic of old and new, a capital striving to fuse ancient traditions with modern ambition.” The author writes in a conversational, open style that occasionally reads like a novel in its dialogue-driven scenes, and it revels in the city he called home for more than a decade. His compelling descriptions pair well with his astute observations on international relations and authoritarianism.

An insightful memoir and commentary on twenty-first century China from the perspective of a gay American.