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Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square
“Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square” is a novel based on the 1989 Tiananmen Square Pro-democracy movement. The novel follows a young woman, Baiyun, a junior in college, trying to reconcile her upbringing while in the midst of the rising political movement in Beijing, China.
Baiyun grew up in a strange and cold household. In order to cope with her dysfunctional family, Baiyun worked as hard as she could, eventually getting herself in the prestigious Beijing University.
Baiyun joined the Pro-democracy movement to vent her frustrations. While protesting, she met the man of her dreams, Dagong, a handsome and charismatic factory technician who was orphaned at birth and lost his only relative during the Cultural Revolution. But even Dagong couldn’t fully take Baiyun away: his face reminded her of one of her mother’s lovers, both attracting her and drawing her back.
“Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square” is a coming-of age story set against the historic and devastating era in Chinese history. With the cultural significance and family bonds of “The Kite Runner”, this book explores the way in which one’s past is never forgotten.
Baiyun grew up in a strange and cold household. In order to cope with her dysfunctional family, Baiyun worked as hard as she could, eventually getting herself in the prestigious Beijing University.
Baiyun joined the Pro-democracy movement to vent her frustrations. While protesting, she met the man of her dreams, Dagong, a handsome and charismatic factory technician who was orphaned at birth and lost his only relative during the Cultural Revolution. But even Dagong couldn’t fully take Baiyun away: his face reminded her of one of her mother’s lovers, both attracting her and drawing her back.
“Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square” is a coming-of age story set against the historic and devastating era in Chinese history. With the cultural significance and family bonds of “The Kite Runner”, this book explores the way in which one’s past is never forgotten.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 27, 2011
19 people are currently reading
1107 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 4, 2012
Intriguing characters, political and personal scandal, and the insights of one young Chinese student’s heart make Lisa Zhang Wharton’s Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square a novel you won’t want to put down. Set in the days leading into the student revolution and the government’s violent response to it, the story follows a small group of college friends as they navigate romance and classes and become increasingly emerged in leading a movement that shook the world.
Through her expanding network of well-developed characters, Zhang Wharton brings the reader viscerally into the complexities of efforts toward a patriotic ideal, from intergenerational conflict to the past traumas and future hopes of a people’s ongoing and valiant movements toward a democratic government and a free press. With cultural detail and vivid imagery, Zhang Wharton’s scenes and dialogue offer a window into a historical event as broad as students’ movements everywhere and as intimate as her heroine’s blossoming sexuality and inner transformation to become part of a cause so much greater than herself. The tensions of love, social justice and politics build together seamlessly toward a powerful ending – we may know the facts, but here is the insider’s story.
Through her expanding network of well-developed characters, Zhang Wharton brings the reader viscerally into the complexities of efforts toward a patriotic ideal, from intergenerational conflict to the past traumas and future hopes of a people’s ongoing and valiant movements toward a democratic government and a free press. With cultural detail and vivid imagery, Zhang Wharton’s scenes and dialogue offer a window into a historical event as broad as students’ movements everywhere and as intimate as her heroine’s blossoming sexuality and inner transformation to become part of a cause so much greater than herself. The tensions of love, social justice and politics build together seamlessly toward a powerful ending – we may know the facts, but here is the insider’s story.
November 11, 2015
Cuốn sách dựa trên sự kiện quảng trường Thiên An Môn lịch sử vào năm 1989. Với không khí sôi sục của tuổi trẻ - những cô cậu sinh viên muốn thay đổi vận mệnh đất nước với sự quyết tâm có chút gì đó ngây thơ.
Trung Quốc năm ấy với những con người rệu rã vì cuộc Cách Mạng Văn Hóa, hoặc sợ hãi vì sức mạnh của chính quyền mà họ đã chứng kiến trong cuộc cách mạng ấy, hoặc cả hai. Cuộc thảm sát cuối cuốn sách là điều mà bất kỳ ai cũng biết trước ngay từ khi bắt đầu đọc nhưng vẫn không khỏi bất ngờ và xót xa với sự tàn ác của nó.
Và không thể không nhắc tới sự cố gắng của Lisa Zhang khi viết bằng tiếng Anh, dù có nhiều lời chê về cách dùng từ đơn giản hay sự sai lệch ngữ pháp nhưng cô đã rất dũng cảm khi viết bằng thứ ngôn ngữ mình không thạo để mang lại một câu chuyện khó quên.
Trung Quốc năm ấy với những con người rệu rã vì cuộc Cách Mạng Văn Hóa, hoặc sợ hãi vì sức mạnh của chính quyền mà họ đã chứng kiến trong cuộc cách mạng ấy, hoặc cả hai. Cuộc thảm sát cuối cuốn sách là điều mà bất kỳ ai cũng biết trước ngay từ khi bắt đầu đọc nhưng vẫn không khỏi bất ngờ và xót xa với sự tàn ác của nó.
Và không thể không nhắc tới sự cố gắng của Lisa Zhang khi viết bằng tiếng Anh, dù có nhiều lời chê về cách dùng từ đơn giản hay sự sai lệch ngữ pháp nhưng cô đã rất dũng cảm khi viết bằng thứ ngôn ngữ mình không thạo để mang lại một câu chuyện khó quên.
September 22, 2014
I love the Chinese voice that Lisa Zhang Wharton writes with. Her experience as a Chinese woman comes across in her story, and it feels almost auto-biographical. You feel the grimness of the conditions that the people of China lived under during the time of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Hope thrives under the conditions of hopelessness. Baiyun struggles with her mother's morality, her own wishes and dreams, and with the burdens that were inherent to being a modern woman in China. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves modern literature, and especially those who love anything about China, as I do.
March 16, 2012
I enjoyed this book very much the dialogue was very interesting
story line was easy to follow characters were blended with a
little aura of excitement the flow of the story was very intense
in some places the location being of course Tiananmen Square
made this a very not only magical but a past that remains in ones
minds two people and others in this story reminds us of the
changes in time
December 13, 2011
I've had the please of nurturing this book for months now and can believe how great this story is. With all of the worlds turmoil, this is one of the most relevant books coming out today... Great job and great book Lisa....
March 21, 2012
I understand that this was written by a lady for whom English is a second language. The dialogue is terribly stilted and frequently wrong words were used. I wanted to like the book because it sounded interesting, but I got about 40% done before I had to quit. It is just too poorly written.
March 22, 2012
We have all heard of the atrocities that occured at Tiananmen Square, this book provides an insight into some of the student motivations and expectations. In using the political and civil unrest as a backdrop to a budding love affair Lisa Wharton manages to emphasise much about the emotiveness and repression of that time. The main stage however is very much upon the emotional turmoil of a young woman running from her history into the arms of her future. A recommended read.
August 10, 2016
Extremely insightful drama of one of the most historical events in modern Chinese history, as seen through the eyes of a young college student. A must-read.
April 7, 2012
Obviously a translation, but a story that needs to be told. However, it could use some editing. I'm used to reading broken English, so it made me smile and think of my kids in Thailand. But it was sometimes hard to read and made me put it down to take a break.
Want to read
September 9, 2012haven't read yet..but the topic of Tiananmen Squ. Massacre is tacky and full of cliches. A superficial combo of political database and people's life during a most complicated and vibrant sea change of Chinese society is just so cheap..
December 13, 2011
This is a VERY exciting book!
August 5, 2013
A love story set at the time of the Tiananmen square student massacre in Beijing, this story is written in a style that is simple, with characters that are simple (despite the author's attempt to make their stories complex), and with a predictable outcome. I did give it a second star, however, because I came to appreciate the feelings that drove the students to protest and demand from their government freedom and change. (Perhaps this book would do great in the "Young Adults" section of the bookstore).
January 9, 2013
I could not get past the strange feeling of the very unnatural sounding dialogue. It was awkward to read though I pushed through for the sake of the content and a book club.
May 10, 2014
Baiyun lives in China and she studies at the Beijing Industrial University, where she is a conscientious student set on studying hard and escaping from her family life and China. She wants to write the TOFEL exams so that she can go to America, but she is drawn into the student revolution and she falls in love with Dagong, a married man.
The story spans the weeks during which students occupied Tiananmen Square and refused to eat or move until their demands were met. The protest began with a march by students in memory of Hu Yaobang, the former party leader, who died. The story leads you through Baiyun's experience and emotions during the events that lead up to the Tiananmen Square massacre of April 1989 when several hundred civilians were shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush this democratic protest.
At times Baiyun seemed scattered and confused, which at the time of reading the story made it halting. However, this is one of those stories that sits in that place at the back of your mind and you realise that it is obvious that her thoughts would be all over the place. A quiet girl who used to spend all her time studying is now in the middle of a democratic protest and she falls in love for the first time amid all the chaos.
I remember watching this story on the news and I found the insight and in-depth explanation by Baiyun fascinating, which made me understand this historical event better.
This story stayed with me for days and Lisa Zhang Wharton wrote a beautiful story, and told it with an authentic voice.
The story spans the weeks during which students occupied Tiananmen Square and refused to eat or move until their demands were met. The protest began with a march by students in memory of Hu Yaobang, the former party leader, who died. The story leads you through Baiyun's experience and emotions during the events that lead up to the Tiananmen Square massacre of April 1989 when several hundred civilians were shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush this democratic protest.
At times Baiyun seemed scattered and confused, which at the time of reading the story made it halting. However, this is one of those stories that sits in that place at the back of your mind and you realise that it is obvious that her thoughts would be all over the place. A quiet girl who used to spend all her time studying is now in the middle of a democratic protest and she falls in love for the first time amid all the chaos.
I remember watching this story on the news and I found the insight and in-depth explanation by Baiyun fascinating, which made me understand this historical event better.
This story stayed with me for days and Lisa Zhang Wharton wrote a beautiful story, and told it with an authentic voice.
July 6, 2012
I'm really glad I got this book as a Kindle free download because it really needs a good editor. The characters were interesting and engaging, and the author did a good job of setting the the mood of the protests and conveying the feeling of the students. I took some issue with the ending because I did not feel that the author built up to it enough for that dramatic an ending.
November 18, 2012
I hate to give negative reviews. However I cant continue to read. The conversations between characters are terrible in the way their written. I enjoy books on eastern culture and lifestyle and that's what drew me to this book but it not worth the read.
July 26, 2012
Interesting story of love and patriotism set forth in May 1989, Beijing. A good read.
January 20, 2015
its a nice book and u all should read this book
February 11, 2015
Good story but the one flaw i found was the timeline was hard to follow i didnt know if it was hours or days between storylines
January 25, 2018
Shortly after I began reading this book, I had to look to see if I could find a reason why it was so poorly written, grammatically speaking that is. The author’s first language is not English, and you can tell right away. Throughout this book I kept trying to correct words that shouldn’t be there, turn sentences around, put them in their proper tense, etc. I didn’t succeed. Still I felt this was an important book to read because I vaguely remember hearing about the Tiananmen Square massacre on the news, but that was so long ago.
Here we are introduced to Baiyun, a university student who is studying to get out of China and go to America for a better life. Her home life is difficult and she only finds comfort when she is studying or in class. Everything will be better when she gets to the US, and this is what Dagong also dreams of, or at least his wife wants it for him. When the democracy movement begins, Baiyun isn’t interested until she meets Dagong and falls in love with him.
I just kept thinking how I wished someone would rewrite this book because the story is good and even would make a good movie. Here in the US we are privileged and fortunate, no matter how crazy things get, to be able to lawfully protest and exercise our freedom of speech. If you do decide to read this, do you like another reviewer did – pretend you are in China listening to a Chinese narrator tell you this story.
Here we are introduced to Baiyun, a university student who is studying to get out of China and go to America for a better life. Her home life is difficult and she only finds comfort when she is studying or in class. Everything will be better when she gets to the US, and this is what Dagong also dreams of, or at least his wife wants it for him. When the democracy movement begins, Baiyun isn’t interested until she meets Dagong and falls in love with him.
I just kept thinking how I wished someone would rewrite this book because the story is good and even would make a good movie. Here in the US we are privileged and fortunate, no matter how crazy things get, to be able to lawfully protest and exercise our freedom of speech. If you do decide to read this, do you like another reviewer did – pretend you are in China listening to a Chinese narrator tell you this story.
March 20, 2022
The explanation of how Hu Yaobang's death was the catalyst for student protests against corruption in Tiananmen Square was awesome.
The icky Romeo and Juliet tale, not so much.
Also, the author needs a better editor.
The icky Romeo and Juliet tale, not so much.
Also, the author needs a better editor.
July 30, 2020
It was interesting and I kept turning the pages. I didn't care for the overly dramatic ending.
June 29, 2021
great piece
June 14, 2025
It was an eye opener for me as far as life in North Korea's communist society. Such a difficult story emotionally. Amazing what the author has gone through.
February 2, 2013
Couldn't get into it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews