Long Crossing
Tianyi Post Service Building, circa 1918
A memoir of history, migration, and the search for meaning
From a 110-year-old postal building in southern China to a new life in Australia, Long Crossing traces one man's journey across cultures, generations, and three eras of modern history. More than a personal memoir, it is a reflection on identity, resilience, and what endures when everything else changes.
Contrast
“ Culture revolution” / Airport to the world /
First KFC in Beijing / Wine for Chinese / and staff annual bonquet
About the Book
The story begins in the century-old Tianyi Postal Building in southern China, where history is not confined to books but lives in the walls, streets, and memories of everyday life. From this place of beginnings, Long Crossing follows one man's journey across continents, cultures, and generations.
Long Crossing is more than the story of one individual. It follows a life shaped by extraordinary historical change - from rural China during the Cultural Revolution, through migration to Australia, and across decades of leadership, entrepreneurship, and cultural exchange. Along the way, it explores not only what happened, but why those experiences continue to matter.
At its heart, Long Crossing asks timeless questions: How do we preserve our identity while adapting to change? What can history teach us about the present? And what legacy do we leave for those who follow? Through personal experience, historical observation, and quiet reflection, the memoir invites readers to consider these questions alongside the author.
Inside the Book:
History / Migration / Leadership / Entrepreneurship / Cross-Cultural Perspectives / The Search for Meaning
Chapter Journey
Chapter 1 — The Night We Were Driven Out
Chapter 2 — The Village Guesthouse
Chapter 3 — Life Among the Fields
Chapter 4 — The Market Day
Chapter 5 — On a Borrowed Ground
Chapter 6 — The Darkest Day
Chapter 7 — Back in Time: Echoes of Tianyi, 1925
Chapter 8 — Eleven Years Too Late
Chapter 9 — At the Edge of the Sea
Chapter 10 — When the Gates Opened
Chapter 11 — The First Assignment
Chapter 12 — The National Capital
Chapter 13 — The First Day
Chapter 14 — The Private Plot
Chapter 15 — The Weekend Escape
Chapter 16 — Disappearance
Chapter 17 — A Choice of My Own Path
Chapter 18 — Bare Hands
Chapter 19 — The Price of Survival
Chapter 20 — The Roads Out of China
Chapter 21 — The Buttonhole
Chapter 22 — Announcement
Chapter 23 — Two Hundred and Forty Kilometres a Day
Chapter 24 — The Canberra MBA
Chapter 25 — A Place to Stand
Chapter 26 — Fresh Food in Thailand
Chapter 27 — Beyond Translation
Chapter 28 — "Tonight, You Eat for Free"
Chapter 29 — “The Communist Has Arrived”
Chapter 30 — The Veterans Across the Strait
Chapter 31 — The Onion Head
Chapter 32 — Tmall from Scratch
Chapter 33 — "Over My Dead Body"
Chapter 34 — Entrepreneur in Residence
Chapter 35 — Seeing from the Other Side
Chapter 36 — Entrepreneur Trip to Europe
Chapter 37 — The Pursuit of Excellence
Chapter 38 — Two Ways of Seeing
Chapter 39 — Crossing the Line
Chapter 40 — What Everyone Knew
Chapter 41 — Exporting Australia
Chapter 42 — Fake Sale and Live Stream
Chapter 43 — Understanding Chinese Consumers
Chapter 44 — Forever Root
Chapter 45 — Learning to Be Still
Chapter 46 — The Question That Remains