The Asian and the Pacific Region Peace Conference was held in Peking, China (now Beijing) from 2 to 12 October, 1952. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation" of Bangladeshis, visited New China to attend the conference as a member of the Pakistani delegation. He wrote the travelogue The New China I Saw afterwards when in prison in 1954, basing it on memories of his visit to the newly-independent courntry. The administrative system and the life of the people of the People's Republic of China after the Chinese Revolution are depicted in this travelogue in minute details and in lucid language. The book articulates Bangabandhu's anti-imperialist attitude, his non-communal1 ideology and his deep commitment to Bengali nationhood. The thinking of a young politician, his patriotism, as well as his indomitable determination to build his own nation strongly have found vivid expression in it. Appreciating the beauty of the country and offering fascinating insights into Chinese life, society and culture are other outstanding features of the book. The background of this travelogue, the manner in which its manuscript survived despite enormous odds, and the way it was eventually published, along with the inclusion of rare photographs drawn from archives, have all made the book captivating. We believe readers will appreciate this book in its English translation as much as they did other previous publications by Bangabandhu.
