I was not allowed to take notes but my friend and I memorised those two and a half pages. Most people talked to me because of the warning. They knew this book was not going to be the official line.

The failures of the Great Leap Forward had led her parents to oppose Mao Zedong's policies. Amongst their criticism of Mao Chang and Halliday argue that despite being born into a rich peasant family he had little concern for the welfare of the Chinese peasantry. She explained her change on the stance of Mao with the following comments:

The Chinese seemed to be mourning Mao in a heartfelt fashion.

Jung Chang (simplified Chinese: 张戎; traditional Chinese: 張戎; pinyin: Zhāng Róng; Wade–Giles: Chang Jung Mandarin pronunciation: [tʂɑ́ŋ ɻʊ̌ŋ] born March 25 1952) is a Chinese-born British writer now living in London best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the People's Republic of China.