Liu Shiying

Martha Avery

The first in-depth look at the multibillion-dollar company Alibaba.com—known to many as "China's eBay"—and the inspirational story behind the man who created it. A bestseller in China and now translated into English and updated with recent events, Alibaba by Liu Shiying and Martha Avery tells the remarkable story behind the Internet phenomenon Alibaba.com and its founder Jack Ma, a man Barron's named one of the World's Top 30 CEOs in 2008. Ma's rise to prominence presents a riveting story: Despite growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution—in a period of total state control of the economy—he developed the keen entrepreneurial instincts that propelled him to billionaire status and enabled him to build a company outside the usual government channels. These instincts and habits incorporated martial arts training and allowed him to recognize, early on, that the Internet could leverage his company to rapid growth and also transform the way business is done around the world. Alibaba.com, where businesses can buy and sell everything from air beds to zippers, started with a modest initial investment of $60,000 and has grown exponentially since its founding in 1999 to become the world's biggest business-to-business Web site. In 2007 it became the second largest IPO in history (after Google), and Fast Company has named it one of the world's most innovative companies. As a result, smart investors and technology insiders will be keeping a close eye on Alibaba for years to come. Whether you're seeking to understand China's meteoric rise, or just searching for the next Google, Yahoo!, or Amazon, Alibaba is crucial reading.

The Inside Story Behind Jack Ma and the Creation of the World's Biggest Online Marketplace

alibaba

Ying Hong

First published in Taiwan in 1992 and banned in China--where it was widely distributed underground--a lyrical and sensuous novel follows the winding path of a young female poet whose life is changed by the uprising in Tiananmen Square.

A Novel

Summer of Betrayal

For decades preceding 1990, Mongolia's economy was supported by the Soviet Union. For the past several years the country has been undergoing extreme change in economic structure as well as social organization. The 30 women in this book discuss the changes in specific, pesonal terms but, as a counterpoint, confirm a tenacious sense of tradition. Weather conditions are extreme in Mongolia: winter temperatures hover between 30 to 40 degrees below zero. The high plateau that Mongolia sits on has preserved a uniquely Mongolian lifestyle. The women of Mongolia celebrate that lifestyle in this book, as they face an uncertain future with strength and optimism. "Women of Mongolia is a vivid, colorful, and extremely informative description of the changes and continuities in the lives of Mongolian women...Ms. Avery allows the women to speak for themselves, providing the reader with fascinating insights and vignettes. She has interviewed a remarkable variety of women - from yak herders to anthropologists to street sweepers to ambassadors, all of whom have been influenced by the recent transformations in the Mongolian economy and society." -Morris Rossabi, Columbia University "Self-reliance has always been a necessary condition of life on the steppe, and this habit of mind has not stopped at the city gates. These are vigorous, strong women who take on challenges. Resourcefulness and resilience forma general theme of the book, and are what struck me when I began to meet Mongolian women." - Martha Avery, from the Preface

Women of Mongolia

China and Russia Meet Across the Steppe

The Tea Road

Zhangng Xianliang

Xianliang Zhang

For years, Zhang Xianliang has been in and out of prison and labor camps while achieving recognition as one of China's foremost writers, and this powerful autobiographical novel and insider's portrait brilliantly chronicles what it means to be Chinese in China today.

Martha Avery

About

Books

Join the club