A Boy of China: in search of Mao's lost son

When Mao initiated the Long March in Jiangxi in October 1933, it necessitated moving quickly. The child he had with his third wife He Zizhen was left with local villagers to look after. While Mao moved on, saying not to worry, that He Zizhen would have other children by him, she searched, but was unable to locate him. Mao said he was a boy of China now. The official explanation was ‘Whereabouts unknown, no further information available'.

Richard Loseby, in the unlikely location of Thailand hears the story of Little Mao, and is intrigued. As he is at the end of his contract, and against the odds of actually finding anything, he sets off for China to see what he can find.

While heading directly to the last known location of Little Mao may have made for a short story, Loseby, a well travelled author, decides instead to travel the approximate route of the Long March in reverse. After flying into Shanghai he commences his journey in Xining (Qinghai), then travel south to near the border with Tibet through Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures. On the move often, moving with an array of other travellers, Loseby has a knack for fitting in with people, and redevelops his Mandarin, commenting at one point that he can pick up a language if he is using it, but it disappears without use. He travels light, and rough - not shying from the local bus, cheap hotels, or dossing at someones house. He eats at noodle stalls and in markets, all making for colourful anecdotes throughout the book.

In this initial part of his journey he is mixing more with Tibetan people, and non-Han Chinese, and so there is little to be gained by discussing Mao and his lost son. Through Sichuan province, and the various cities he visits before reaching Chengdu he meets various interesting people who are invariably generous and assist him in his travels. Eventually he picks up tidbits of information which send to to people who share the name of others. A student who know a history professor at a University; a bus driver, who knows a journalist, and eventually a retired police officer. His route takes his to Changsa, then to the province of Jiangxi - where the Long March is credited with starting. The towns of Jinggangshan, Yudu and Ruijin feature heavily in concluding the story before Loseby completes his journey to Shanghai.

I won't spoil the roll-out of information, but as I noted above this book is as much (if not more) about the journey as it is the outcome, and the story is compellingly teased throughout.

It is easy reading, and even at 300 pages, very readable in a short time, while offering a fairly detailed overview of Mao, his third wife He Zizhen and the Long March. There is less about the general politics of the time, but enough for the basic background necessary for the context around events.

I have previously enjoyed Loseby's books on his travels in Afghanistan (I should probably re-read those), and enjoyed this equally. Published in 2016, after some delays which are explained in the book, as the travel occurred around 2007.

Whenever I read about Mao I am fascinated to find he only died in 1976; He Zizhen died in 1984. It seems too recent for those events he was involved in to have happened!

4 stars

I read this book because I have a particular interest in the history of China. Although it didn't add much to my knowledge of the subject, and the story of Mao's lost son didn't amount to much, it is still a thoroughly enjoyable travel book.