The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: A Captivating Chronicle of the Complex Relationship Between the United States and China From clipper ships swapping American ginseng for Chinese tea to warships facing off in the South China Sea, from Yankee missionaries bringing Christianity and education to Chinese laborers building the American West, the United States and China have long been dramatically intertwined. For over two centuries, statesmen, merchants, missionaries, and adventurers from both nations have profoundly influenced each other's fates, engaging in a recurring pattern of enchantment followed by disillusionment. Drawing on personal letters, diaries, memoirs, government documents, and contemporary news reports, John Pomfret reconstructs the surprising, tragic, and marvelous ways Americans and Chinese have interacted through the centuries. The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom provides a fascinating and thrilling account, offering an indispensable guide to understanding the most important—and often perplexing—relationship between any two countries in the world. Tracing the complex history of Sino-American relations, Pomfret reveals the deep roots of current tensions and the potential for future cooperation.