Cover of The People's Republic of Desire

The People's Republic of Desire

by Annie Wang · 2006

+ Want to read

An uncensored, eye-opening, and laugh-out-loud funny portrait of modern China as seen through the lives and loves of four professional women in contemporary Beijing.

Read more

Divorce, oral sex, plastic surgery. Indulging in a Starbucks coffee, admitting to the emotional repercussions of a one-night stand, giggling over watching pornography.

These once taboo subjects have become the substance of daily conversations and practices among urban women in contemporary Beijing. It seems that no one remembers what happened at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

A cross between Sex and the Cityand The Joy Luck Club, The People's Republic of Desirefollows four sassy gals as they preen and pounce among Beijing's Westernized professional class, exultantly obsessed with brand names, celebrity, and sex.

Setting
2000s2000sMore like thisLess of thisChinaChinaMore like thisLess of thisAsiaAsiaMore like thisLess of thisBeijingBeijingMore like thisLess of this
Subject
traveltravelMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
long · 464 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

BuyAmazonGoogle Books

BorrowOpen LibraryA library near you

MoreCompare pricesHardcover

Liked The People's Republic of Desire? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The People's Republic of Desire. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. A Dictionary of Maqiao Han Shaogong · 1996 Shares China, fiction, Asia
  2. The Drink And Dream Teahouse Justin Hill · 2001 Shares China, fiction, Asia
  3. Habit of a Foreign Sky Xu Xi · 2010 Shares China, fiction, Asia
  4. The Banquet Bug Geling Yan · 2006 Shares China, fiction, asian
See more recommendations →

“People who read The People's Republic of Desire tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Village of Stone Xiaolu Guo · 2003
  2. Eight Million Gods and Demons Hiroko Sherwin · 2001
  3. Night Train to Turkistan: Modern Adventures Along China's Ancient Silk Road Stuart Stevens · 1988
  4. The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure Adam Williams · 2003

“If you want more of the same (travel), start with these.”

  1. Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth Xiaolu Guo · 2000
  2. Beijing Doll Chun Sue · 2002
  3. Rickshaw Boy Lao She · 1937
  4. A Cup of Light Nicole Mones · 2002

“If it was the China that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Miss Chopsticks Xinran · 2007
  2. UFO in Her Eyes Xiaolu Guo · 2009
  3. Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China · 2013
  4. China Candid: The People on the People's Republic Sang Ye · 2005

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin Kathy Griffin · 2009
  2. The Bathing Women Tie Ning · 2000
  3. Boys & Sex Peggy Orenstein · 2020
  4. The Brontës: Charlotte Brontë and Her Family Rebecca Fraser · 1988

Report a problem