The charismatic form of healing called qigong, based on meditative breathing exercises, has achieved enormous popularity in China during the last two decades. Qigong served a critical social organizational function, as practitioners formed new informal networks, sometimes on an international scale, at a time when China was shifting from state-subsidized medical care to for-profit market medicine. The emergence of new psychological states deemed to be deviant led the Chinese state to "medic...

What we eat, how we eat, where we eat, and when we eat are deeply embedded cultural practices. Eating is also related to how we medicate. The multimillion-dollar diet industry offers advice on how to eat for a better body and longer life, and avoiding harmful foods (or choosing healthy ones) is considered separate from consuming medicine-another multimillion-dollar industry. In contrast, most traditional medical systems view food as inseparable from medicine and regard medicinal foods as t...

In this exploration of the central Chinese concept of qi, a team of authors trace its role in early texts and contemporary neuroscience to show how it continues to be relevant beyond China.As life-long scholars of qi related practices, Adam Frank, Nancy Chen, and Stephen Field offer new insights into the significance of qi in the current Anthropocene. They connect Daoist studies, Chinese medicine, martial arts, popular culture, and historical phenomenology to exami...

China Urban is an ethnographic account of China’s cities and the place that urban space holds in China’s imagination. In addition to investigating this nation’s rapidly changing urban landscape, its contributors emphasize the need to rethink the very meaning of the “urban” and the utility of urban-focused anthropological critiques during a period of unprecedented change on local, regional, national, and global levels.Through close attention to everyday lives and narratives...

Providing the first overview of Asia’s emerging biosciences landscape, this timely and important collection brings together ethnographic case studies on biotech endeavors such as genetically modified foods in China, clinical trials in India, blood collection in Singapore and China, and stem-cell research in Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. While biotech policies and projects vary by country, the contributors identify a significant trend toward state entrepreneurialism in biotechnology, ...

-Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Reviews-Finalist, 9 state book awards-Starred review, Publishers Weekly-Starred review, Kirkus Reviews-Starred review, BooklistAs he continued to stare, I wanted to point to my cheek and remind him, "But you were the one who wanted this, remember? You're the one who asked - and I repeat - Why not fix your face?"It's hard not to notice Terra Cooper.She's tall, blond, and has an enviable body. But with on...

What would you do if the sun became your enemy? That’s exactly what happens to Viola Li after she returns from a trip abroad and develops a sudden and extreme case of photosensitivity—an inexplicable allergy to sunlight. Thanks toher crisis-manager parents, she doesn’t just have to wear layers of clothes and a hat the size of a spaceship. She has to stay away from all hint of light. Say goodbye to windows and running outdoors. Even her phone becomes a threat when its screen burns he...

Gretchen Lin, adrift at the age of thirty, leaves her floundering marriage in San Francisco to move back to her childhood home in Singapore and immediately finds herself face-to-face with the twin headaches she’s avoided her entire adult life: her mother’s drinking problem and the machinations of her father’s artisanal soy sauce business.Surrounded by family, Gretchen struggles with the tension between personal ambition and filial duty, but still finds time to explore a new romance...

This book examines how exactly effective intercultural communication at work takes place. In order to do so, the authors take a deep dive into understanding the communication process and variation in communication patterns across cultures and individuals. They introduce a model that focuses on four sources of nonverbal communication, discuss existing research on intercultural communication in the workplace, and offer propositions for future research on the indirect, implicit, and nonverbal...

Papaya (Carica papaya) is an important and widely-cultivated tropical fruit, grown in more than 60 countries of the world. Global papaya production has grown significantly over the last few years, mainly as a result of increased production in India. Papaya has become an important agricultural export for developing countries where export revenues of the fruit provide a livelihood for thousands of people, especially in Asia and Latin America. This book includes coverage of recent research de...

Beyond the Numbers presents a thought-provoking series of essays by leading authorities on issues of population and consumption. The essays both define the poles of debate and explore common ground beyond the polarized rhetoric.Specific chapters consider each of the broad topics addressed at the International Conference on Population and Development held in September 1994 in Cairo, Egypt. The essays are supplemented by sidebars and short articles featuring more-impassioned...

Everyone loves a good cinnamon roll, but did you know cinnamon can help your hair grow longer and stronger? In 101 Amazing Uses for Cinnamon, discover the many ways this simple spice can improve your health, your home, and of course, your food. From improving memory to aiding digestion to supporting a healthy garden, add some spice to your life with cinnamon.Millions of people are turning away from the harsh effects of modern solutions and back to the gentle but powerful b...