“The Story Of A China Practice” Now Available Via Free Download

Posted by Reading Time: 3 minutes

Sept. 18 – “The Story Of A China Practice,” the book written by Chris Devonshire-Ellis detailing the founding and development of Dezan Shira & Associates first 15 years in China, is now available here as a free download.

The book, written to commemorate the firm’s 15th anniversary at the end of last year, was produced as a memoir of that period and was given to clients and friends of the firm. It has never been made commercially available, but has attained cult status amongst many long term China business hands.

Michael Cronin, COO of Peony Capital in Beijing, and a long time China hand describes it as:

“Thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the descriptions and anecdotes used to so vividly to paint these important steps that the business went through. I also loved the descriptions of China in the mid 1990s, and of the colorful characters met along the way.”

Paul Cunningham, Hotel Manager, Westin Beijing Financial District comments:

“The Story Of a China Practice is a must read for all new to China businesspeople. It chronicles the start up difficulties, financial problems and marketing solutions that all small-medium businesses in China face and what has to be done to overcome them.”

Arnie Jensen, COO of ASIMCO Technologies, says:

“An open and honest account of the trials and tribulations of China business…Reading it feels like discussing the past 15 years personally with the author, over a good glass of wine. Some fascinating insights and a handful of classic laugh-out-loud moments.”

Chris Devonshire-Ellis, who wrote the book, recalls, “I sat down and wrote it in a week while sitting in a bungalow during the Indian Monsoon in Rishikesh in the Indian Himalayas this time last year. Fifteen years is a long time in China, and as the firm’s fifteenth anniversary was coming up I just wanted to try and get down on paper all the issues we went through from start up to the successful business we had become. It was never intended as a commercial work, purely as a memo of all the struggles we went through, the things that we had to deal with, the occasionally stupid things we did and also the positive decisions we made when faced with problems. It was written as a warts and all account of what it was like, so that we wouldn’t forget our somewhat humble beginnings. It was never intended to be an expert account trying to show off our success. It was written as an account of what it was like at the time, from times of hardship to making some decent money! If anybody can learn something from it, then that is a great bonus.”

The book had an initial print run of 5,000 copies and was given away on a complimentary basis. It is now however cropping up on Amazon and similar websites, selling at a premium, and continues to generate good reviews, despite not being commercially available.

To combat this, Chris has decided to make it available for complimentary download. To download the 96 page book, please click on the book image on the right.