Exclusive features in each of the three editions
Anna Pao Sohmen recounts the difficulty of visiting anew conversations long past
The newest English edition of Anna Pao Sohmen's book on her father, Y.K. Pao, is the third version after the Hong Kong and mainland editions, dated 2008 and 2010 respectively.
The Chinese editions were a little more sentimental for her because "my conversations with my father had been in Chinese. So it was slightly painful as I needed to revisit our past journeys together", the author said.
Great care was taken in processing the direct quotes of leaders, including those of the late Deng Xiaoping and in naming those who were present at high-level meetings she attended.
The Hong Kong version, she added, was her own writing, thus reflecting "the Hong Kong Chinese way of saying things". The Zhejiang University Press version, in simplified Chinese characters, had a better literary flow because she was "sure the editors there have better Chinese".
"The English version is more factual, and I have many friends who helped with fact-checking for me," she said.
All three editions have exclusive features of their own.
The Hong Kong edition contains reprints of original documents, such as one addressed to then premier Zhao Ziyang on upgrading Ningbo , hometown of the Paos.