Based on the author's experiences from childhood through 1996, when he completed the second draft of the novel Freedom in the Sunset , this autobiography describes his pro-democracy activities over the years while presenting a panoramic view of China 's society and democratic movement over almost half a century. In order to comprehensively understand this society, Yuan Hongbing contacted individuals form all social strata to discuss life in China from the Cultural Revolution until the mid 1990s. He met hundreds of people, including farmers, beggars, high-ranking government officials, criminals, prison guards, professors and renowned intellectuals. Appalled by the excesses of the communist regime, some Chinese intellectuals chose to defy tyranny at the cost of their careers, families, freedom, and even lives. Author Yuan Hongbing is one of those courageous people.