Once Upon A Time in China: : Worms, Cha and a Harmonious Society. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Once Upon A Time in China: : Worms, Cha and a Harmonious Society

Chris Merritt spent nearly two years teaching parasitology to international students in the Medical School at Soochow University, Suzhou. The Chinese told her she was the first westerner ever to teach in a medical school in mainland China. She was also the only foreign faculty member on campus. This opportunity provided her with an inside look at daily life for Chinese students, their thinking, hopes and dreams, social issues, family life, the Communist Party and much more. She traveled in search of ancient China and her travels took her to Miao villages in the mountains, eco-museums in Guizhou, Confucius’s birthplace and people living in caves. She found the Chinese to be a warm, generous hearted people with a great sense of humour who invited her to stay with their families in their hometowns. Merritt lived, shopped and ate with the Chinese and they shared their family histories, sexual orientation, love life and the wonderful myths and legends of China.

Chris Merritt grew up in England and was educated at British universities, including Westfield College, University of London where her year were the last of the all female undergraduates. The following year, the Queen signed a charter allowing male undergraduates to be admitted. She read honours Zoology, then went on to the School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool University for an M.Sc. Her Ph.D. from Brunel University, London was on biological clocks in the malaria mosquito. In the USA, she worked in the Entomology Department at the University of California-Berkeley on biological control of mosquitoes. The success of this research meant that the state of California had an ecological alternative for insect control rather than harmful pesticides, such as DDT. She later worked for the chairman in the Division of Biological Control and did a lot of work on his book, The Pesticide Conspiracy. After living in Zurich, Switzerland, where her husband was a student at the C.G. Jung Institute, the family (+ 3 children) moved to Madison, Wisconsin. There, she worked for the University of Wisconsin-Madison in various departments doing research, administration, teaching and grant writing. She was a successful recipient of Federal funding and became President of a university spin–off company (BioAssay, Inc.) to develop a brief test for environmental chemical contaminants, examining the effects on the next generation. She later took off for China when all funding dried up. There she taught parasitology and cell biology to international students in the Medical School at Soochow University, Suzhou. She was also student advisor and liaison between Chinese university authorities and international students. Although she has published research papers and a chapter in a scientific book, this is her first book based on her experiences in China. Merritt now lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her husband.