"Crazy as a loon," the town's people say when Wilbur announces he is walking to China. "There's an ocean out there. Think you're Jesus," they tell him. Wilbur says nothing. He is use to ridicule."Walk on the boat," Wilbur says. How can they say it? He knows he cannot walk on water. He cannot swim.Three Gold Coins is the story of Wilbur Bauer, forty-five, never married, and never stepped foot from his county. The story is of a man who leaves the oppressive past of the farm and the small town he was raised to unwittingly discover a world denied to him by his father. In his insulated naivete Wilbur frees himself and those he meets on his journey.On the trek, Wilbur meets Mrs. Smith. "Embrace the culture and keep your eyes and ears open," she tells Wilbur as they share pink lemonade. Sarah S., a college-aged student who works at the ship's coffee shop says, "Be yourself. I wish my father was like you." Liu Ying, a Chinese girl on the way to her homeland, pushes Wilbur to answer, "What do you want, Wilbur Bauer?" and "Who are you?" Wilbur meets Xiaofan, a tea shop hostess at the Beijing hotel where Wilbur stays is as meticulous as he and with no identifiable future. "You are a strange man. Yes, very strange." Three Gold Coins is the story of Wilbur. Wilbur is Wilbur. Who else can he be?