1954 – Jiang Ji Li was born in Shanghai, China on the Chinese New Year of that year.

1958 – 1963 – The Great Leap Forward. (An attempt to modernize and develop China’s agriculture and industrial fields).

May 16, 1966 – The Cultural Revolution began, led by Chairman Mao and the Communist Party. Jiang Ji-Li was 12.

August 1, 1966 – Chairman Mao announced his support of the Red Guards in a speech to the 11th plenum of the eighth CPC (Communist Party Congress).

August 1966 – Communists condemn religion. Temples and churches are burned, and believers are arrested.

January 1967 – The Red Guards seize control of Shanghai, where Jiang Ji-Li and her family reside.

July 18, 1967 – State President Liu Shao Qi and his wife are publicly denounced, and power is given to Jiang Qing (Mao’s wife) and Lin Biao (Mao’s chosen successor).

December 1968 – “Down to the Countryside Movement” began, where most children were sent for re-education. The children involved with this movement are commonly spoken of as the “Lost Generation”.

September 9, 1976 – Chairman Mao died, which diminished, and basically ends, the momentum of the Cultural Revolution.

January - April 1976 – Premier Zhou En Lai dies, and Hua Guo Feng replaces him.

April 5, 1976 – A huge protest of the notorious Gang of Four takes place in Tian An Men Square.

October 6, 1976 – Hua Guo Feng ordered the arrest of the Gang of Four, which officially ended the Cultural Revolution. The ending of the Cultural Revolution did not end the power of the Communist Party, and the Communists are still in control of China.

1984 – Jiang Ji-Li immigrated to the United States.

1987 – Jiang Ji-Li graduated from University of Hawaii, where she majored in English.

1992 – Jiang Ji-Li started her own company, the East West Exchange.

(Jessica Luo)