Catherine Sampson

For The China Beat, Nicole E. Barnes interviewed Catherine Sampson, former BBC journalist and (London) Times correspondent, as well as the author of four mystery novels.

Their opening exchange:

NB: What was the most intriguing, amusing, inspiring, or eye-opening story that you covered in China?

CS: I worked as a journalist in Beijing for The Times of London between 1988 and 1993. Both the most inspiring and then the most awful was 1989. The student demonstrations went on for 6 weeks and drew in all sorts of other people. It was an exhilarating time, a gutsy, good-natured, hopeful, time. It all came to a horrible end on June 4th, and the next few years in China were bleak ones. I haven't worked as a journalist here since 1994, and it's June 4th that stays with me, the political intrigue that surrounded it, and the myriad stories of bravery and tragedy. I think we're wrong if we believe people have forgotten about 1989 in the excitement of economic activity that has swept the country.

Read the full Q & A.

Check out Sampson's list: Top 10: Asian crime fiction.

Visit Catherine Sampson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue