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In the early 1990s China finally opened for business, and Wall Street wanted to get in on the act. When the investment bankers arrived from New York with their Harvard MBAs, pinstripes and tassled loafers, ready to negotiate with the Old Cadres, the stage was set for a collision between Wall Street's billions and the world's oldest culture.This is the true story of a tough Wall Street banker who had reached the top and found that it wasn't enough. Looking for glory, he came to China to surf the next new investment wave and teamed up with an ex-Red Guard and an Englishman living in Beijing. Together, they raised over $400 million and bought up factories all over China. They thought the contracts were watertight. But then they began learning the hard way that China doesn't play by anyone else's rules. Left sitting in their boardrooms while their Chinese partners marched off in their own different directions, they watched their millions begin sliding towards the abyss.