China Run is a 92 1/2 minute documentary film which portrays an ultramarathon runner's record-setting 2,125 mile run across China in 53 days, starting at the Great Wall north of Beijing and concluding in Guangjhou (Canton). It is a story of the difficulties, both physical and emotional, suffered by the runner, as well as the story of his encounters with the people of China.

Outer Edges of the Middle Kingdom is a narrative by the author about his two years as a teacher in the People's Republic of China. Organized chronologically, the account begins in August, 1985, and ends in June, 1987. The narrator describes meeting students at Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, designing English classes for English majors, daily episodes in the classroom, and interaction with Chinese colleagues. The narrative alternates between life on a university campus and extensive trips the narrator made to various cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Kunming, Guilin, Harbin, Hohot, and Guangzhou. Also recounted are the narrator's reactions to the student demonstrations of December, 1986, and the resulting anti-bourgeois liberation campaign of January-April, 1987.