When Beijing opened its doors in the 1980s, it shocked the world by allowing private enterprise and free markets. Dori Jones Yang was among the first American correspondents to cover China under Deng Xiaoping, who dared to defy Maoist doctrine to try to catch up with richer nations. Despite her natural reserve, Dori used her fluency in Mandarin to get to know the ordinary people she met—people embracing opportunities that had once been unimaginable.

“Dori Jones Yang has given us two wonderful, East-West coming-of-age stories for the price of one: China’s metamorphosis from poor Communist backwater to quasi-capitalist powerhouse, and her own journey from rookie reporter in the male-dominated world of business journalism to respected foreign correspondent. Both tales come with their share of great leaps forward and troubling setbacks. This chronicle of her two love affairs―with China and with a very special Chinese man―and her steely determination to succeed not only as a professional, but as a colleague, wife, mother, and stepmother, make for an inspirational and rewarding read.” ― Scott D. Seligman, author of The Third Degree: The Triple Murder That Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice

An experienced journalist, author, and speaker, Dori Jones Yang has written seven previous books, including a best-selling business book about Starbucks and two award-winning novels about Chinese children in America. When the Red Gates Opened is her first memoir. Educated in history at Princeton and in international studies at Johns Hopkins, Dori worked for eight years in the 1980s as a foreign correspondent for BusinessWeek, covering China during its pivotal years. From her current base near Seattle, she also worked as West Coast technology correspondent for U.S. News and World Report. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, she has traveled throughout China over forty years and spoken about her books across the United States.

Ying Chan is an award-winning journalist, educator, e-learning advocate and media consultant. Ms. Chan is Founding Director of The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre (1998–2016), and has spent 23 years in New York City as a journalist, covering immigration, political campaign finance and U.S.-China relations. (Moderator)