Dancing with the Dragon documents the improbable journey of an American entrepreneur from the office parks of north Texas to the oilfields of northwest China in a remarkable quest to bring renewable energy to the China’s back country, pioneer profitable US-China business partnerships, and eventually right the wrongs he suffered at the hands of the government of the People’s Republic (PRC)—and the Communist Party—of China (CPC). “What can I tell you about the PRC?” Patrick Jenevein asks at the beginning of the book? As one who partnered with the government of the PRC and the CPC for over twenty years; spent countless days in the cities, hinterlands, offices, and homes in the only nation that comes close to competing with the United States; experienced personal and professional victories and defeats in bringing renewable energy to the land of the dragon; briefed the CIA on what was happening on the ground there in the late 1990s and early 2000s; and celebrated relationships with his Chinese partners but dared to take them on when they crossed lines both moral and legal, Jenevein’s answer is: “I can tell you a lot”. In an honest and freewheeling conversation with New York Times bestselling author Steve Fiffer, Jenevein recounts the story of his two-decade attempt to work fairly, forthrightly, and faithfully with his Chinese counterparts, his travels via jumbo jets, puddle jumpers, jeeps, and camels, his elation over sealing a groundbreaking deal designed to bring success to everyone, and his disappointment—and disbelief—over being betrayed by his Chinese partners, who had also become friends. In his twenties, Jenevein accidentally fell into the energy business in Texas; in his thirties he serendipitously fell into the energy business in China; and in his forties, he pivoted from building power plants and wind farms to manufacturing wind turbine blades. Within five-plus years, that joint venture with China’s state-controlled aviation and military behemoth AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) was valued at $1.8 billion dollars. Buoyed by their success, the partners set their sights on the burgeoning wind farm markets in the US, Europe, and South America. When his Chinese partners breached the new venture’s contract, Jenevein sought an amicable resolution, but the Communists played by their own rules. In harrowing detail, he relates how they not only refused to settle the dispute but threatened him and his family. These tribulations led to a trial with issues that eventually worked their way up to the US Supreme Court. Jenevein painstakingly recreates the prickly David v Goliath proceedings that led to a rare instance in which a US company prevailed against a state-controlled Chinese entity…and actually collected on the judgment. Jenevein is currently a persona non grata in China. But thanks to his unique understanding of that nation’s culture, politics, and business, he has built a successful strategic consulting firm whose clients include the US government agencies, and numerous multinational corporations. In a thoughtful coda to this cautionary tale, the old China hand shares his thoughts about how to deal with the dragon today and in the future. Educating ourselves about the world’s only other superpower is essential, he says. Both entertaining and eye-opening, Dancing with the Dragon is an excellent primer for doing just that.