Sarah E. Truman had a life-long affinity with China and Guanyin – the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion. She believed that Guanyin actually lived in China (although her common sense and just about everyone she knew told her that Guanyin was NOT a historical figure or physical being.) She decided to visit China and see what Guanyin was (or was not) and to find out how Guanyin's millions of devotees have endured the great political, economic and social upheavals of the last century: Has Buddhism survived in China? Does the philosophy and spirit of a great intellectual and spiritual tradition still influence a country gone mad with the turmoil of war, revolution and now the spoils of so-called economic miracles?

Through two years of countrywide travels and unexpected encounters - including Sanlin the statue maker, Mrs. Wu and her Kungfu master son, the grotesque luminosity of Yes Bar, and finally the wisdom of a Chan monk - Sarah E. Truman found what she was looking for.

The book is a collection of stories that portray China as a country where life is rooted in raw, street level survival, and where Guanyin can only be experienced after all concepts, preconceived notions, and spiritual illusions are abandoned. 

“Sarah Truman's closely observed jaunt in China and Tibet offers some priceless scenes, from trying to hilarious. How lucky she is to be watched over in her travels by the gentle, lively Bodhisattva of Compassion Kwan Yin.”

            Sandy Boucher, author of Discovering Kwan Yin: Buddhist Goddess of Compassion