Jane Hutcheon's connection to China goes back more than one hundred and fifty years, when her great-great-grand-uncle Phineas, a Scottish tea merchant, was drawn to its shores. When Jane became the ABC's China correspondent in 1995, she began her own journey through an ancient and intriguing culture that is undergoing rapid change. Though China has transformed itself into a heady capitalist republic, the country's new faade covers up a multitude of the same old problems. And in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the clash between new and old is more pronounced than ever. By talking with ordinary people, Jane provides intimate insights into China's radical transformation. In the process, she discovers that the real China is intense, humorous, cynical and, quite often, bizarre.