Jan Wong first arrived in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s as a fervent young Maoist. Determined to change the world, instead she found her own world turned upside down. The result was a groundbreaking memoir, Red China Blues.

In Beijing Confidential Wong returns to witness one of history's most extreme makeovers as the city feverishly prepares for its moment on the world stage for the 2008 Olympics. But she has a much more compelling personal reason to revisit her past. Haunted by her guilty conscience, Wong is convinced she ruined the life of a former fellow student, Yin Luoyi, all those years ago. When Yin asked for help to get to America, Wong promptly reported her comrade. More than three decades later she needs to make peace with herself and the woman she betrayed.

Beijing Confidential is a fascinating journey into China's past and present as two extraordinary women's journeys come full circle against the backdrop of a city in the midst of yet another historic transformation.