Publisher's Synopsis
Yu Lan, as her name in Chinese (Jade Orchid) suggests, was a sensitive, idealistic and passionate girl. During the early days of the Sino-Japanese war, she lived in the chilly international cosmopolitan city Harbin. Fortunately or unfortunately, she encountered a double agent of the Nationalist Party, Wan JianHao and she fell in love with him. Thus began her troubled and often tumultuous life for nearly half a century. The war forced tragic separation of this couple in love. However, their immortal love for each other managed to give her enough courage and mental strength to live through this period of uncertainty, even though life was filled with miseries caused by the war. In the mean time, Wang JianHao had shocked the world through his clandestine work during the Xian incident (during which the kidnapping of Chiang Kai-shek by a warlord Zhan XueLiang took place in 1925), in which he played an important role. The author let the readers have a taste on the bitterness during separation, threats of death while holding on the faith of true love, the hard lives of common people during the ravaging cruelties of war, and the infamous, outrageous and shameful animal acts of Emperor's armies of Japan in the occupied territories of China. The episodes which meanders throughout the entire novel, plus the power plays in the Chinese political arenas before, during and after the war, the perilous journeys of transfer merchandise in and out of enemy occupied territories singlehandedly, further increase the readability of this novel. The unexpected ending of the story by the author, further increase the myths of this novel, makes this novel of love, adventure and suspense a great reading that could please even the most critical reader.
