Chinese athlete Liu Xiang, winner of gold medal in the men’s 110-meter hurdles at the Athens Olympics, has published his autobiography, “I Am Liu Xiang,” last weekend in his hometown of Shanghai. Initially, Liu Xiang didn’t intend to write about himself until 2008 Beijing Olympics, but his schedule changed when Shanghai Literature and Arts Publishers issued a book about him without his permission. In order to prevent any more publishing houses taking unfair advantage of his name and a flexible copyright environment, Liu Xiang decided to publish his book in advance, promising to donate all resulting profits to charitable organizations.

With the help of two close friends, it took only a single month for Lu Xiang’s autobiographical ideas to leap from drawing board to 100-thousand-word book. Predictably, the work recalls Liu Xiang’s entrance into sports college, his nascent study of hurdling, and how he met his coach Sun Haiping, who helped direct Liu Xiang to gold in Athens this summer. More encouragingly, jotting down notes has been a long term habit of Liu Xiang, so readers should find many off-the-cuff thoughts and anecdotal accounts within the book. Similarly, a number of unknown personal experiences and stories from his maturing years have been collected together.

But it seems that many people can’t help comparing Liu Xiang with another Shanghai native, basketball giant Yao Ming, who also recently published his autobiography, “A Life in Two Worlds.”  Manager Dai, the editor in charge of the book, “I’m Liu Xiang,” explained the differences between the two books as he saw them. Firstly, Yao’s book is written specifically for Americans, while Liu’s readers will be mainly Chinese. Secondly, “A Life in Two Worlds” is written in the third person singular by an American writer who recorded Yao Ming’s accounts. “I’m Liu Xiang” is written in the more intimate first person and includes many articles from his diary. Lastly, according to Dai, Yao enjoyed the advantage of being born into a sporty, well-off family, unlike Liu, who came from a working class family and therefore had to go through greater hardship before becoming a world-known athlete. Conclusion? If you are disturbed enough to enjoy reading about mental suffering, physical pain, and monetary deprivation, read “I’m Liu Xiang.” If you want to practice your English, read “A Life in Two Worlds.”