Do You like book China Road: A Journey Into The Future Of A Rising Power (2007)?
If I were only allowed to read one book on China in my lifetime, I think this would have to be it. This is the first book that makes me feel like I "get" China, its current situation, and the mindset of its people. We studied China in school and I had read about it on my own, but I was still looking at it from the outside in and viewing China's success as well as its problems with very western eyes. Through candid interviews with Chinese people of various social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds, as well as coming to some interesting conclusions of his own based on typical scenes from daily life in China that I would have never thought about on my own, the author paints a portrait of China that has completely change my perspective on the country. Many things happening in China make no sense to the West and a lot of times, we misjudge the country based on false preconceptions because we simply don't understand. This is the closest you get to the Chinese mind while still keeping it in the western perspective. In addition, this book is so readable. I have often wanted to learn about China in the modern world on my own but I was too intimidated by daunting and scholarly textbooks. This gives you the information of a textbook without the monotone dry language. It also doesn't overwhelm the reader with a flood of irrelevant dates, facts, and thousands of names that they have no hope of trying to pronounce. Instead, it introduces key historical facts as they become relevant along the author's journey on Route 312, making the information more digestible. At first I thought it would be strange not having info given in chronological order but putting a place to the fact ended up making more logical sense.
—Sophie Zapoli
Most people, when they think of China, think of the glamorous, glitzy modern cities, like Shanghai and Beijing. However, China is an enormous country, made up of many dialects and tribes. The author, who lived and worked in China, traveled through the country 3000 miles from East (Shanghai) to West (by the Kazakh border) via Route 312. Along the way he explored how the country has grown and changed. He talked to regular folks, from peasant farmers to urban yuppies, AIDS patients to Tibetan monks. It is informative, delightful, and heart-wrenching too. Like it or not, China is going to be the next great superpower. Understanding its culture, history, and people is critical in navigating the future of world politics and economy.
—Wendy
Absolutely wonderful observation of modern day China. I lived in China for a couple years after graduating from college and so many of the experiences of this author echoed my own. He also went so many places I had been and I can verify his descriptions. He has some of the same thoughts as me. I liked in particular his description of seeing the amazing potential of China one day and then feeling it will all fall apart the next. Yes, that is what it often feels like as a foreigner living in ChinaWhat I liked most was that he interviewed and spoke to normal Chinese people. I often tell people that you cannot know China from the political heads; you must speak to the people. In this book you will meet real people with real concerns. You will understand their own triumphs and frustrations in their own country. I hope you come away with both a sense of where China stands right now and also with a more compassionate heart for the Chinese people.I also want to laud the author for the ease of his writing style. It never felt forced and his transitions between explaining history or culture and his own story were seamless. His writing style kept me reading this book and wanting to read it every night. I actually finished this book the night I went into labor with my second child because I wanted to finish it before I had a baby and wouldn't have the time to read it anymore. It must have been a sign. I went into labor an hour after I finished it!
—Carissa Norris
