Reviews: Book

Who Wants to Travel the Great Wall with Me?

Written and illustrated by Yang Zi

This collection of drawings about the Great Wall offers something different from straight-faced tourist books on China's most famous monument.

The central characters, a modern girl and a wolf, travel through time and space in search of the true nature of the Great Wall. They often dress up as ancient people, or use camera and other equipment to look back in history.

Yang Zi has a compelling way of presenting the Great Wall, drawing inspiration from many types of art, such as ancient paintings from the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in Gansu Province along the Silk Road. There are grand scenes of the Wall winding along the mountains and close-ups of ornamental figures on the beacon towers. One drawing features soldiers armored according to different dynasties standing in a row. When you finish the book, the Great Wall is no longer a lifeless chunk of stone and brick. It comes alive.

The English version is published by Foreign Languages Press and priced at 78 yuan ($10). Liu Jun

(China Daily 03/20/2007 page20)