This book contains 87 interviews reflecting a wide range of personal experiences between 1991 and 2008. The interviewees come from different occupations and different places.They have clung to their traditional culture while absorbing new and foreign cultural sustenance.All the interviewees related their experiences, joys, sorrows, challenges, grievances and hopes in a candid way.

This book contains 87 interviews reflecting a wide range of personal experiences between 1991 and 2008. The interviewees come from different occupations and different places. They include a azz player in Heilongjiang Province, a rock-and-roll drummer in Tibet, an elderly fruit farmer in Shanxi Province, a Beijing boss just 14 years old, a retired 68-year-old man who ventured alone in Africa, a college student who has adopted a younger sister despite poverty and hardship, and a woman entrepreneur who ranked No. 1 on Hurun China Rich List.

Their stories present the real lives of Chinese people since the 1990s. In the course of the great social transformation brought about by reform and opening up, in their pursuit of well-off lives the Chinese people have striven to maintain their traditional virtues of a simple lifestyle and unselfishness. They have clung to their traditional culture while absorbing new and foreign cultural sustenance.All the interviewees related their experiences, joys, sorrows, challenges, grievances and hopes in a candid way.

CIVIL SERVICE

 Wang Dongmei: Tibetan Spokeswoman

 Qiampa Getsang: Custodian of the Potala Palace

 Jia Guohua: Grassroots Civil Servant

TEACHING

 Yao Lizhen: Village Teacher

 Li Yiru: A Lifelong Devotion to Girls' Education

 Li Yingxin: Appealing for Better Pay for Farmer-teachers

 Lu Yongkang: Paralyzed Teacher

 Yang Jinxiang: Chinese Teacher in Bangladesh

 Yu Minhong: Richest Teacher

 Guan Yan: Teacher in a Wheelchair

LEARNING

 Tang Ying: Hearing-impaired Ph.D

 Deng Shen Boy in Charge

 Hong Zhanhui: A Student's Moving Fortitude

 Liu Ting: Caregiver

 Wang Ji: Sex Educator

STUDY AND RESEARCH

 Zheng Zhenxiang: Archeologist

 Cheng Jing: Leading Returned Biochip Scientist

 Lin Yifu: Economist and Independent Thinker

 Zhizhen Wang: A Quiet Life by Choice

 Shuang Shi: A Special Passion for Military History

 John T. Ma: Founder of the Books-for-China Fund

WRITING

 Yu Hua: Avant-garde Novelist

 Liu Cixin: Science Fiction Writer

MEDICAL CARE

 Dai Shu: Veterinarian

 Gao Yaojie: A Grandmother Crusading Against AIDS

 Qin Xiangguan: Father of the Rural Cooperative Medical Care System

 Fu Pochu: Volunteer Nurse for Lepers

 Li Leishi: Kidney Doctor

 Wang Ya: Volunteer with MSF

 Yang Shichun: Army Doctor

 Li Ling: Long-time Grassroots Doctor

ENTREPRENEURS

 Yao Yuecan: Travel Boss

 Zhai Yuhe: Champion of the Elderly

 Zhang Yin: Richest Woman

 Feng Jun: Digital Manufacturer

 Liu Sirong Millionaire

 Tenzin Qopei: Popularizing Tibetan Culture

 Tan Chuanhua: Creator of China's Biggest Wooden-Comb Brand

FARMERS AND MIGRANT WORKERS

 Zhang Jiashun: Ecological Farmer

 Bai Guangqin: Migrant Worker

 Zhang Zhansheng Apple Grower

 An Jinlei: Organic Farmer

 Huang Changqi: AIDS Patient

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

 Wang Lixin: Wildlife Protector

 Zhou Weisen: A Former Wildlife Trapper

 Lister Cheung: Environmentalist

 Quan Li: Tiger Lady

 Wang Daqing: Still Battling the Desert

 Zhang Heshan: Great Wall Villager-Protector

 Liang Congjie: A Civil Environmental Protector

 SERVICEMEN

 He Xiaodong: Soldier for Humanity

 Wang Aifu: Family Locator

JOURNALIST

 Wang Jun: Saving Historical Sites

TYING THE KNOT

 Liu Xiang: Beijing's No. 1 Matchmaker

 Xie Changjin: Master of Nuptial Ceremonies

COLLECTORS

 Zhang Jing: Rock Museum Operator

 Sha Zhiming: A New Life, Collecting Yixing Teapots

ENGINEER

 Guan Geng: Construction Supervisor

FILM AND TELEVISION

 Pu Cunxin: Star on a Mission

 Jia Zhangke: Exemplary 6th Generation Director

 Zhang Hua: Documentary Producer

 Wang Weili: Cinema Owner

PHOTOGRAPHY

 Emi Shi: Rebel Photographer

 Liu Hongbo: SARS Patient

 Hou Bo: Mao's Photographer

FASHION

 Liu Min: Fashion Designer

ARTISTS

 Han Meilin: Picasso of the East

 Fang Cheng: China's King of Cartoonists

 Yue Minjun: Laughing at the World Around Him

 Chen Shilin: Retouching Mao's Official Portraits CONDUCTOR

 Luo Lang: National Anthem Conductor

PERFORNERS

 Lang Lang: Pianist Extraordinaire

 Dainzin Dawa: Rock on the Roof of the World

 Sun Heng: Migrant Musician

 Fan Shengqi: Jazzman

ATHLETES

 Zheng Haixia: Basketball Champion

 Adili: Tightrope-Walk King

 Xian Dongmei: Judo Contestant

 Zou Shiming: Boxer

 Guo Yandong: Young Paralympics Basketball Star

RETIREES

 An Youzhong: Obsessed by Photography

 Li Guoliang: Information Guide

 Tian Kuixiang: Botanist

OTHERS

 Tong Zeng: National Campaigner

 Li Li: Nurse-turned Farmer in Zambia

 Ma Xiulan: Pilgrim to Mecca

 Luo Shanxue: Son of a Comfort Woman