Child of Two Countries: My China Legacy

A young girl’s China, 1920s: swimming in Paradise Pools, hiking to the Cave of the Immortals, sharing a Sunday sidewalk with Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang. Mary’s life seemed charmed. But elements of danger were never far from home, with hazardous travel, deadly bandits, conflicts between armies and rumblings of war. Child of Two Countries: My China Legacy is a collection of true-life adventures, thrilling and humorous tales and touching remembrances of Mary Beck Ecker. From her birth in China in 1917 to her ocean voyage on a Norwegian freighter at 19 to attend college in the U.S., Mary’s story captures a rare and magical time on two continents between the two world wars. Born of missionary parents Edwin and Irene Beck, Mary’s first home was Lakeside missionary compound in the lush Yangtze River Valley. With her twin brother Bob, her mother and older brothers Jim and John, she spent summers in the enchanting Lushan mountain resort community of Kuling. Furloughs to the U.S. provided contrast to China life, with modern fashions, the introduction of radio and popular entertainment, the freedom of automobiles, passenger train journeys and characters like her 90-year old Colorado cowboy neighbor who shot his pistol off the back steps.