Inspired by his article "Rent a White Guy," published in The Atlantic, comes a chronicle of Moxley's outrageous adventures in Beijing--from fake businessman to Chinese propagandist to low-budget music video star--as well as a young man's search for identity in the most unexpected of places.

Mitch Moxley came to Beijing in the spring of 2007 to take a job as a writer and editor for China Daily, the country's only English-language national newspaper. The Chinese economy was booming, the Olympics were on the horizon, and Beijing was being transformed into a world-class city overnight. Moxley planned to stay through the Olympics and then head back to Canada.

That was five years ago. In that time Moxley has fed a goat to a tiger, watched a bear ride a bicycle while wearing lingerie (he has witnesses), and has eaten scorpions and silkworms. He also appeared as one of Cosmopolitan's 100 most eligible bachelors in China, acted in a state-funded Chinese movie, and was paid to pose as a fake businessman.

These experiences, and many more, are chronicled in Tall Rice, the comic adventures and misadventures of Moxley's time in China and his transformation into his alter ego--Mi Gao, or Tall Rice. The books spans the five years that Moxley has lived in China; five years that coincide with China's arrival on the world stage and its emergence as a global superpower. A funny and honest look at expat life, and the ways in which a country can touch and transform you.

What happens when a Canadian journalist trades his quiet life for the chaos of pre-Olympics Beijing?

• Expat Life in China: From feeding a goat to a tiger to witnessing a bear ride a bike in lingerie, this is a ground-level view of the country's most surreal moments.
• Culture Shock: Follow Moxley's journey as he becomes an accidental propagandist for the state-run newspaper China Daily, learning firsthand that journalism has "Chinese characteristics."
• Rent a White Guy: Discover the bizarre world of fake businessmen, where Westerners are paid just to show up, shake hands, and give a company "face"--a story so strange it went viral.
• Fish Out of Water: A hilarious and honest story about finding yourself in the last place you'd ever think to look, from becoming one of Cosmopolitan's "Hottest Bachelors" to starring in a low-budget music video.