I have to admit, I bought 'A True Friend to China' – the history of the Quaker-run “Friends Ambulance Unit” in rural China between the end of World War II and the Communist takeover in 1950 – with some reservations. But what could have been an extremely dry subject is brought to life by the brilliantly engaging style of the protagonist and author, Jack Jones (later to write a best-selling novel about a Bangkok prostitute, 'A Woman of Bangkok').
This is an edited collection of Jones’ letters and reports detailing his experiences while managing FAU truck depots and clinics in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan and Chongqing: the numerous awful truck rides and vehicle smash-ups on appallingly bad roads; kidnap by bandits; the battles with authorities and administration; regular bouts of illness; the confusion of anyone adrift in an alien culture; and the stress of managing a band of strangers forced to work together in unbelievably trying conditions – all made worse by a widespread distrust of foreigners in China, not to mention a chaotic civil war raging in the background.
If at times you wish there was more of a Chinese perspective of events – the focus is very much on the foreign FAU team, though they were all clearly deeply affected by the plight of China and its people – there are several excellent in-depth excursions into Jones' involvement with local affairs. Best of these is a hilarious account of a night at the opera (in the local truck depot); and the grim portrayal of the tin-mines at Gejiu, with its slave-driven, opium-addicted child miners (a story later picked up by the British ‘Guardian’ newspaper).
A True Friend to China is a huge, heavy book, amply illustrated with hundreds of contemporary photographs, and with continuity gaps filled by helpful explanatory essays – all clearly the product of exhaustive editorial research. While easy to read, it will probably prove a bit too niche for general consumption, though China watchers interested in the period would be hard-pressed to find a grittier, more hands-on account of the stresses and strains accompanying the closing days of China’s Nationalist regime, as seen from the perspective of an informed outsider away from the main action.
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