马克新书发布会现场 

　　4月20日马克力文新书《我的中国故事》在中央民族大学举行新书发布会，新书《我的中国故事》是由新世界出版社出版。

　　马克·力文出生于洛杉矶一个在大屠杀中幸存的美籍犹太裔家庭。在取得了社会学博士学位后，他在美国多个社区的低收入工人组织内从事了近三十年的专职志愿者工作。

　　他于2005年来到中国，在中国第一任总理周恩来的故乡——江苏省淮安市执教两年。在他来到中国后不久，他开始给他美国的朋友们写信，讲述他在中国的众多经历。而他们看过信后的普遍反应就是“马克，你应该写本关于中国的书”。虽然他的经历有趣而刺激，但他觉得自己的经历仍然有限，写书的想法似乎还遥不可及。但他还是保持着写信的习惯，不久后又开始将他在中国的经历创作成歌曲，这样他可以用弹吉他唱歌来陪伴自己。

　　马克赠送爱泼斯坦的肖像给黄浣碧 

　　2007年他移居北京并开始在中央民族大学教书，并仍然继续写歌，为此他得到了他的朋友——中国音乐人傅涵的帮助和鼓励，同时开始在北京及中国其他地方表演。从那之后，作为老师、歌手、词曲作家、杂志文章的作者、公共演讲者、公共演讲导师和英语比赛评委，他走访了中国20多个省，结识了各种各样的人。

　　在工作和旅行中，他深入与学生交谈体察年轻人的生活，与地方官员和许多中国老百姓成为了朋友。他想要理解中国人的视角和思维。

　　马克力文感谢他的经纪人傅涵并赠送礼品 

　　由新世界出版社出版的《我的中国故事》讲述了他在中国的亲身经历，以及他与许多中国人之间的故事，其中包括学生、教师、行政人员、演艺圈艺人、农民、政府官员、新中国第一代领袖的子孙后代以及中国人民的朋友老国际友人们。

　　通过讲述如何在不懂中文的情况下考取驾照、如何上中国版的《美国偶像》——《星光大道》，如何结识海外电影临时演员、如何参加中国婚礼仪式以及如何在乡村过春节等等的故事，马克·力文向读者展示了友谊的价值和行走在自己旅途上的中国年轻人坚持不懈的追梦精神。

　　马克力文与中央民族大学的学生一起表演 

　　马克·力文说，他写《我的中国故事》是因为他相信“中国人和西方人之间的共同点远远超过我们的想象”，他希望读了他的故事以后，“那些对中国很好奇但还很陌生的读者，能了解中国人的生活方式”，也许他们也会像马克·力文一样，对中国人有自己独到的见解。

　　马克力文和他的经纪人傅涵共同表演感谢到场嘉宾和朋友 

　　为了消除中西文化之间的隔阂，马克·力文的音乐随着音乐二人组合“秀外慧中”的诞生而发生了一些变化。马克·力文将他的六弦琴吉他与傅涵的二胡完美融合，演绎他创作的歌曲和中国民歌还有美国民谣，他们的表演脍炙人口，赢得了所有观众的芳心。

　　马克力文新书签售现场 

　　马克·力文在中国的生活成为了近10部电视和网络纪录片的主题，并在世界各地均可看到。

　　今年四月二日，马克·力文所做的贡献获得了北京市政府的认可，与其他14名国际友人一起被北京市市长授予2011-2013年度长城友谊奖。

　　《我的中国故事》可在亚马逊网上订购。

　　Mark Levine was born in Los Angeles to a post-Holocaust American-Jewish family. After getting a Ph.D. in sociology, he was a full-time volunteer with organizations of low-income workers in many communities across the United States for nearly 30 years.

　　Coming to China in 2005, he spent two years teaching in Huai’an, Jiangsu, the hometown of China’s first Premier, Zhou Enlai. Soon after his arrival he began writing lengthy letters to friends in the U.S. telling about his many experiences. The common reaction was “Mark, you should write a book about China.” Although an interesting and exciting idea, he realized that his experiences were still quite limited, so the idea of a book didn’t seem very likely. He kept writing letters and soon began writing about his China-experiences in songs which he would sing while accompanying himself on his guitar.

　　Moving to Beijing in 2007 to teach at Minzu University of China his songwriting continued and with much help and encouragement from his friend, Chinese folk musician Fu Han, he began performing in Beijing and elsewhere in China. Since then, as a teacher, singer, song writer, author of magazine articles, public speaker, public speaking coach and English competition judge, Levine has visited 20 Chinese provinces and met a wide variety of people.

　　Working and traveling in China he went out of his way to learn about the lives of his students and befriend local officials and others he met. He wanted to understand the Chinese perspective.

　　Stories from My Chinese Journey, published by New World Press, tells of his experiences in his own words and the words of those he has met including students, teachers, office workers, entertainers, farmers, government officials and the children and grandchildren of both former Chinese leaders and old foreign friends of China.

　　From how to get a driver’s license if you don't speak Chinese and how to get on the Chinese version of American Idol, Avenue of Stars, to expat movie extras, Chinese Wedding rituals and a real look at Chinese New Year in the countryside, Levine shows readers the value of friendship in China and the perseverance of the country’s young people, who are on journeys of their own.

　　Levine says he has written Stories from My Chinese Journey because he believes “Chinese and Western people have much more in common than is often thought.” He hopes his stories will “give those readers who are curious but still unfamiliar with China a way to appreciate how people here live their lives” and perhaps, like Levine, glean their own insights about the Chinese people.

　　Seeking to bridge the gap between Western and Chinese musical culture, Levine’s music has taken a shift with the development of the musical duo In Side Out. He and his guitar and Fu Han, and her erhu, have joined together to perform Mark’s songs, a variety of Chinese folk and ethnic songs and a few American folk standards. With an American and a Chinese, a Western instrument and a Chinese instrument, singing Western and Chinese songs and singing both in English and in Chinese, their performances have been very warmly received by all who have heard them.

　　Levine’s life in China has been the subject of nearly 10 TV and internet documentaries that in addition to China have been seen worldwide.

　　On April 2 of this year, Levine was recognized by the Beijing government for his contributions when he was one of 15 foreigners in Beijing to receive the 2011-2013 Great Wall Friendship Award.

　　Stories from My Chinese Journey can be ordered from Amazon.cn