The book Chinese Women Striving for Status: Sport as Empowerment is original in focus and in evidence. It analyses for the first time, in informed and substantial detail, the extraordinary, successful and impressive efforts of Chinese sportswomen in their collective striving for, and achieving of, national and international recognition, status and supremacy. The performances and achievements of these women have thrust them to the very center of the global spotlight. Among the most dramatic, recent developments in Chinese society has been the international ascendancy of these Chinese sportswomen: an intentional and impressive demonstration of soft power politics. In the late twentieth century, Deng Xiaoping urged the Chinese policymakers to construct a model of "comprehensive national power" – Chinese sportswomen are in the vanguard of this construction! More than this, in the process, they have achieved elevated social status, and in some cases considerable wealth! This book is unique in recording their astounding achievements. "Chinese Women Striving for Status: I marvel at the complexities of the summaries. The book is certain to be important." – Professor Sheldon Rothblatt, Formerly of the Department of History and Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California (Berkeley)