China today is changing as fast as any time in its history. For a visitor, or someone on a lengthier stay, it can be a baffling country that can only be unravelled by persistence and curiosity. This book shows what it is really like to live in modern China and provides a deep understanding of the reality, the taboos, the challenges, the aspirations and the motivations of the citizens of the most populous nation in the world. It explains how the Chinese people, often with self-deprecating humour, see themselves and others and the challenges they face as they gain greater global exposure.Interwoven in The Lure of the Red Dragon is a compelling real-life love story and a personal account of the pleasures and tribulations of living within one of the oldest cultures in the world."This is the real thing - the inside story - and extraordinarily well written. If you are planning to visit China, let alone live there, this book is compulsory reading!"Sir Alan Wilson, FBA, FRS, Director, Special Projects, The Alan Turing Institute and Executive Chair, The Ada Lovelace Institute, Nuffield Foundation, London."I want to go to China, eat in China, learn Chinese and have a Chinese name". He's a global citizen and writes with a warm and generous tone."Tim Rayment, Sunday Times, London."He feeds on Chinese delights, roams through streets teaming with spirited people, shrinks into high rise apartments for culinary delights, and reveres unlikely heroes. The tamed Red Dragon and our cosmopolitan author hosts us on an enriching and enlivening visit to an unfamiliar China."Dr. Rick Gilmore, Member of the US Council on Foreign Relations and former Presidential Advisor on Agriculture, Washington DC.