One year prior to the protests in Tiananmen Square, Rosemary Mahoney participated in a teaching exchange between Radcliffe College and Hangzhou University, where she intimately came to know her students and colleagues. This beautifully written and loyal memoir captures both the dreams and the grim realities her students faced within the confines of their political system. Their plight is illuminated by the words of a young teacher and poet named Ming who, when asked what her parents thought of her wish to study abroad responded, "My father knows it is foolish to hope for the early arrival of dreams." - Jacket flap.