This is a unique narrative travelogue with an inside view of Chinese culture, taken not from the words of a foreign traveler but from real words of real Chinese people. Written as a series of monologues, each chapter records the voice of a different Chinese person who encounters this foreigner in China. The work is gathered from eighteen years of living in China. Initially, The Celestial Kingdom was written for the Chinese scholar who desires to express himself and his country to a world which is often mesmerized by enigmatic images of the inscrutable. Here, one gains more than a merely superficial snapshot of this ancient nation. A clearer picture will appear for the reader who follows and digests each discourse. The Celestial Kingdom also contains traces that lead to a discovery of tragedy which underlies this writing. We find an end to this tragedy, yet a new beginning also. Indeed, an individual, a nation and a world are presented here in tapestry, weaving together threads that cover a nation forever embedded within our hearts.