• Bamboo Goalposts: one man’s quest to teach the People’s Republic of China to love football – BOOK REVIEW
By Rowan Simons
Macmillan, h/b, £14.99, 377pp.

This is a book largely about amateur football but you most definitely do not need to be interested in football — professional or amateur — to enjoy it. In fact, you could despise football and still find this a charming, engaging and very funny book about all that is magnificent and strange about China today.

Rowan Simons arrived in China at the end of 1987 (as it happens just about the time that I first went to China), to study Chinese. He picked it up fast (unlike me) by studiously avoiding going to classes and instead mixing with as many people as he could as he went out and about.

Always a great lover of football and sport, and with an interest in writing, he picked up various assignments and tasks as he stayed on in China after graduating. One of the more memorable challenges was looking after the snooker player, Alex Higgins, on a tour to China after which Higgins presented him with a tailor-made suit, which had a special hidden pocket in which he kept his beta blockers!

He also found fame, if not fortune, as a presenter on Beijing Television as a commentator of football matches, managing to introduce his growing audience to Chinese versions of popular football phrases and jargon.

He watched as the Chinese national football team struggled to make the grade in international tournaments, despite efforts by the government to create a top-ranking team. The explanation was simple, Rowan Simons believed: you do not generate world-beating football teams by throwing resources at an elite group of players. To create world-class players, you need a bedrock of amateur football, played by millions of enthusiasts. That is how Brazil did it, and that is what China needed.

What follows is his determination to promulgate his ideas, using whatever method he can. Like the very game of football that he loves (and plays in China), the quest is full of ups and downs, breakthroughs and disappointments. He invests much time, and a lot of his own money, to create a football pitch on land that used to be fish ponds on the outskirts of the city, only for the rental agreement to expire and not be renewed.

He makes good friends and contacts, whom he persuades of the wisdom of his approach. These range from senior figures in the world of sports administration to the wonderfully named (in translation) ‘Mr Dem-olish’, who lays the grass in his newly built football ground.

He receives the ultimate accolade of being called a modern-day Norman Bethune (the Canadian doctor who offered unstinting support to China’s fledgling Communist movement), yet has periods of being completely cast aside. The title of the book is apposite: the goalposts are always moved at critical junctures, leaving things unclear whether he will ever achieve his worthy aim.

Bamboo Goalposts is a wonderful book, full of affection and hum-our — and a deep reverence for the country and its people. It is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested to work out how to get things done in China.

The book also gives a close-up perspective of the barriers between outsiders and insiders. Rowan Simons reveals at the end his dream to break down these barriers; it is his fervent hope that he comes to be known as a “person first and a foreigner second”. With his language and understanding of all things Chinese, if anyone can, he can.

— Humphrey Keenlyside

• The Britannica Guide to Modern China: a comprehensive introduction to the world’s new economic giant – BOOK REVIEW
Constable & Robinson
p/b, £8.99, 378pp.

Providing a ‘comprehensive introduction’ to modern China is no simple task, but one feels that if anyone could take on the challenge it would be Britannica, with 240 years of experience and teams of professional fact checkers, editors and contributors. What they have produced does indeed cover a lot of bases.

Reasonable sections on history, economy, geography, governance, religion, social makeup, the arts, food — and even a guide to some of the top attractions — means that the reader can dip into this publication to find out a little bit about many of the major topics concerning China in modern times.

The book does, however, have a few problems; the challenge of fitting together brief articles on subjects which themselves have filled many books on their own, means at times the book lacks depth. On top of this, one could argue that there are many more insightful publications on offer, and this book brings nothing new to the table. Furthermore, a smattering of editorial problems permeate the book, including a mistake with the very first word (the Chinese name for China is Zhong Guo, not Zhong Huo).

However, the content is the crux. The purpose is not depth or insightfulness; it is to create a simple, accessible overview of some of the many facets of China. And this is useful, given that China is now the focus of world attention.

The Middle Kingdom remains a mystery for many, and the availability of uncomplicated, accessible works like The Britannica Guide to Modern China can only help increase understanding of the many facets of the country, its people and its culture.

— Duncan Levesley