Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory |  | Author: Peter Hessler
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
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Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 1,952
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 448
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Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0061804096
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.48320951
EAN: 9780061804090
ASIN: 0061804096
Publication Date: February 1, 2010
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010: There is, as everyone knows, no place in the world changing as fast, and at such scale, as China. Accounts of the upheaval can be breathless and even alarming, but Peter Hessler is the calmest and most companionable of correspondents. In his reporting for the New Yorker and in his books River Town, Oracle Bones, and now the superb Country Driving, he's observed the past 15 years of change with the patience and perspective--and necessary good humor--of an outsider who expects to be there for a while. In Country Driving, Hessler takes to the roads, as so many Chinese are doing now for the first time, driving on dirt tracks to the desert edges of the ancient empire and on brand-new highways to the mushrooming factory towns of the globalized boom. He's modest but intrepid--having taken to heart the national philosophy that it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission--and an utterly enjoyable guide, with a humane and empathetic eye for the ambitions, the failures, and the comedy of a country in which everybody, it seems, is on the move, and no one is quite sure of the rules. --Tom Nissley
Product Description
From the bestselling author of Oracle Bones and River Town comes the final book in his award-winning trilogy, on the human side of the economic revolution in China. In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China. Hessler writes movingly of the average people—farmers, migrant workers, entrepreneurs—who have reshaped the nation during one of the most critical periods in its modern history. Country Driving begins with Hessler's 7,000-mile trip across northern China, following the Great Wall, from the East China Sea to the Tibetan plateau. He investigates a historically important rural region being abandoned, as young people migrate to jobs in the southeast. Next Hessler spends six years in Sancha, a small farming village in the mountains north of Beijing, which changes dramatically after the local road is paved and the capital's auto boom brings new tourism. Finally, he turns his attention to urban China, researching development over a period of more than two years in Lishui, a small southeastern city where officials hope that a new government-built expressway will transform a farm region into a major industrial center. Peter Hessler, whom The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the Western world's most thoughtful writers on modern China," deftly illuminates the vast, shifting landscape of a traditionally rural nation that, having once built walls against foreigners, is now building roads and factory towns that look to the outside world.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 33
Peter Hessler Does It Again February 16, 2010
Thom Mitchell (Providence, RI USA)
47 out of 52 found this review helpful
Mr. Hessler's 3rd book on China continues his tradition of excellent writing and reporting. His tales of his travels driving through China are illuminating, as are his village and factory narratives. He truly provides insight into a time, people and place in China that most of us will never meet, see or experience. His previous books, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.) and Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S.), have become must-reads for anyone who wants to learn about modern China and this book might be his best yet.
His humor, insight and empathy are as extraordinary as his ability to pack so much information into such a compelling narrative. I pre-ordered the book and once it arrived I couldn't put it down until I finished it. If you are trying to understand China for work, study, travel or just personal interest - this should be right at the top of your reading list. You won't be disappointed.
Useful insights into modern China February 21, 2010
Robert C. Ross (New Jersey)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful
As a long time "New Yorker" reader, it's been a joy to follow Peter Hessler's discovery of the complexities of modern China in a series of his articles published over the past 12 or so years. This is probably his best book on China, and I found it fascinating.
Hessler was born in 1969 in Missouri and became a Peace Corps volunteer assigned to China. He learned the language well and does not rely on interpreters unlike other journalists. As a result, his writing has a very attractive conversational style.
Like many other "New Yorker" writers, Hessler publishes much of his work first in the magazine and later in a book: his first, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, covered education and cultural matters; and his second, Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present, focused on ancient history.
Hessler's third book starts out as a road trip roughly paralleling the Great Wall, on superhighways, local paved roads, and dirt paths. An experienced driver himself, among many other things he had to contend with Chinese drivers who had recently learned to drive as adults and who rarely spent much time learning the principles of safe driving.
Hessler learned about the Chinese highway system, of course, driving alone in his rental cars, but he also learned about a pervasive business development culture. His book breaks into three sections: highway development in section one, retail development in a village in section two and industrial development in larger and growing cities in section three.
In the village of Sancha, which became a suburb of Beijing because of better roads, Hessler buys a house. He becomes especially friendly with a couple who open a restaurant to serve the increasing number of tourists.
The third section describes factory development in Lishui, a small city becoming a manufacturing center; it specializes in a small ring used in making bras.
Hessler is a wonderful traveller; his website describes a bit of how he got started:
"... I saw little of the world outside of America, until 1992, when I received a scholarship to attend graduate school at Oxford. That was really the start of my international experiences -- I lived cheaply at Oxford and picked up odd jobs and the occasional freelance writing gig, and this allowed me to travel extensively in Europe and Asia. During those two years I visited something like 30 countries -- Oxford was very generous with its vacation time, and I traveled cheaply, using rail-passes and camping a lot. I finished in '94 and decided to go home around the world -- an unplanned trip that started in Prague and continued by land and boat all the way to Thailand, via Russia and China. After returning from that trip, I freelanced and took other trips, including a long hike across Switzerland -- in the summer of '95 I received a grant to hike across the country, and I spent two months camping and hiking in the mountains, from the French border to the Italian border."
His books on China are wonderful examples of how well he becomes a part of the societies he visits and how well he brings his experiences alive. I look forward to reading more of his "New Yorker" pieces -- they may reach the heights of the experiences in this fine travelogue.
Robert C. Ross 2010
Glimpse into everyday life in China February 15, 2010
J. Attwood
23 out of 28 found this review helpful
Well written observation of the impact of the Chinese Economic boom on the nation's citizens. This book is three stories - it is not just a travelogue of driving around the country.
Mr. Hessler's writing is tight and descriptive. He takes a non-judgmental attitude throughout the narratives and allows the reader a clear look at the country's current zeitgeist. The book held my interest and I'd happily purchase further writings from this author on the subject matter.
Excellent Insights Into China! February 16, 2010
Loyd E. Eskildson (Phoenix, AZ.)
23 out of 30 found this review helpful
Country Driving" consists of three narratives intended to convey how China is changing with the building of new roads. While the book accomplishes little in that regard, it does help readers understand Chinese culture, how that culture is developed at school, and the idiosyncrasies of life in China. The book begins with Hessler acquiring a Chinese driver's license in 2001 after living and touring in China for five years teaching English, serving as a free-lance reporter, and learning to read and speak Chinese.
Obtaining a driver's license is no mean feat for Chinese citizens - requirements include a medical checkup, passing a written exam, and completing a driving course and extensive driving test. (These requirements are greatly lessened for those already licensed in other nations.) Unfortunately, the driving courses and regulations have little connection to safety - seat belts, turn signals, and children's car seats are not required, and despite having only one-fifth the number of vehicles for about the same geographic area as the U.S., China has twice the number of traffic fatalities. A lesser problem is that maps do not label most roads, lack a marked scale or distances between towns, and the indicated roads sometimes turn into creek beds. Nonetheless, almost 1,000 new drivers register each day in Beijing alone. Hessler always rented the vehicles he used, probably because autos owned by foreigners have a distinctive license plate that would reveal when he was traveling outside his residence area - guaranteeing special police attention.
Hessler's first narrative summarized his driving over 7,000 miles across northern China following the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dynasty - 1368-1644, from the East China Sea to the Tibetan plateau in a rented Chinese-made Jeep Cherokee ($30/day). (Hessler was required to immediately leave the Tibetan area - it is forbidden to foreigners.) Many days he traveled less than 100 miles, taking time to tour and visit with locals, and usually camping out to avoid small-town hotels because they often reported him to local police. (Foreign journalists were required to apply to local authorities before arriving - Hessler rarely did so because he lacked a set itinerary and the process invariably led to more questioning.) Truckers' dorms were an alternative because they normally lacked the police registration forms. Besides rarely seen portions of the Great Wall, Hessler also observed numerous remains of signal towers also built during the Ming dynasty - the remains were over 20' high, made of tamped earth, and had been used to send military communications using fires, lanterns, smoke signals, and flags. Some of the Great Wall has been denuded of its brick facing - used as a 'free' resource and also a target of Cultural Revolution efforts to obliterate China's feudal past; this is no longer allowed. The less-traveled roads often were covered with grain piles during harvest time - an illegal practice that provided free threshing by passing vehicle tires. Occasionally Hessler's travel was interrupted by stops at roadside funerals that lasted up to 7 days. (Most deceased Chinese are cremated, except in outlying areas.)
The second, and most appealing, segment of "Country Driving" covers the six years beginning in 2001 that were spent in Sancha, a small walnut farming village in the mountains north of Beijing that had shrunk from a population of 300 in 1970 to less than 150. (About 90 million Chinese migrated from the countryside by 2001, primarily to new factory towns on the southeastern coast; these numbers grew to an estimated 130 million by 2008.) Here he rents a 3-room house ($40/month) amidst a community with an average GDP of $250/capita and 17 Communist Party members. Party membership requires a formal application, followed by meetings, interviews, evaluations, and self-criticisms that can take six months, or more - only about 5% are members, and some join primarily (eg. his neighbor, in 2004) to add business contacts and leverage with local officials. While there, Hessler becomes close to his neighbors and their young son (Wei Jia - only child in the village) and part of the community routines.
Hessler's reporting on the 'local' boarding school, 30-some miles away, is particularly interesting. Report cards are 30+ pages long - the evaluations begin using a 20-item list titled "Elementary School Rules of Daily Behavior." Examples: 1)"Be interested in national events, respect the national flag, respect the national emblem, know how to sing the national anthem." (Many rural villagers, however, don't even know the name of the current premier.) 2)"Cherish the honor of the group and be a responsible member of the group." Etc. Physical measurements are also included - height, weight, eyesight, hearing, lung capacity. At the end of the 2nd-grade and other report cards are a series of unfinished faces where children draw either a smiley, straight, or frowning face in response to self-evaluation questions such as "participates in labor for the collective welfare."
Hessler's education perspectives continue, reporting almost never meeting a parent without educational aspirations for his/her child - unlike America. Everything revolves around memorization and repetition (sometimes with no context - eg. memorizing instructions for Microsoft FrontPage XP), though their mathematics texts are far more advanced than their equivalents in the U.S. There is no ability grouping. Returning to Wei Jia, his education begins inauspiciously. Wei's kindergarten year (staying at his grandparents in another village) begins with him declaring "This place is no good!" - understandable since he had never been with a group of children before, and the school was in such poor condition it was closed the next year. Regardless, Wei's first school year quickly ended because of ITP (a bleeding disorder) that necessitated a trip to a Beijing children's hospital for gamma globulin treatment. Fortunately, despite the staff's aloofness and requiring payment in advance (Wei's parents had insurance that paid after-the-fact), Wei fully recovered, though one wonders what would have happened without access to Hessler's rented auto and advice from foreign medical sources. (The 'good news' is that China is now expanding health care and insurance for all.)
Wei's second year (first grade) in school, however, was as bad, if not worse. Homework was mostly ignored, he wandered around the room during class, didn't eat all his food, and even failed to stand at attention during an address by the principal. Wei's parents made it quite clear to him that they were very upset, and followed up regularly. Second grade brought a total turnaround - Wei led the class in mathematics, did his homework, ate all his food, and was appointed Politeness Monitor (reports on bad behavior and deducts points accordingly). Chinese classrooms also have Homework Monitors, Hygiene Monitors, and Class Monitors - the latter helps the teacher organize fellow students; in addition, each dorm room has student Room and Vice-Room Monitors to ensure cleaning is carried out. Peer discipline also takes place when misbehaving children are required to stand in front of the class and be criticized by both the teacher and the other students. Finally, parent-teacher conferences are a group exercise - all parents attend together and listen to the teacher's critique of each student, with the bad ones receiving the most attention. Beginning with the 5th grade, class/dorm monitor positions are elected - Wei, however, declined to run, declaring that it was 'too much bother.'
Other interesting China education factoids: Before 1949 80% of the population was illiterate; now UNICEF reports a 99% literacy rate among youth. Nine years of education (free) is required - passing a test is required to attend high-school or vocational school, and tuition is charged. Its higher-education system was devastated during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, though is now rebuilding. The proportion of college-age youth enrolled in higher-education is 20%.
Smoking among men is pervasive, and exchanging cigarettes is part of social relations. There are over 400 brands of Chinese cigarettes - all state-owned and with varying status levels, 50 cable channels cost less than $20/year, nobody knocks when they visit a neighbor in Sancha, the village chief is elected by all via secret ballot and need not be a party member (he/she is outranked by the Party Secretary, however), the town's propaganda speakers blare out news each morning about government initiatives, and by 2006 the town's GDP/capita had risen to $800 as a result of tourism from Beijing generated by the road being paved (now about a two-hour drive from Beijing). Wei's father gained more than most by starting a restaurant that served fresh fish kept in a tank, and adding several rental rooms. The money for these ventures originally came from his personal savings and loans from relatives; later, after joining the Party he was also able to get government grants and loans. Credit cards are rare. Obtaining bank loans requires village approval. Construction workers cost $3/day in 2001, $6/day in 2006.
The biggest used-car market in Beijing has about 20,000 cars for sale, and most sellers are individuals paying 25 cents/hour to park their car there. Approved religions include Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam; Catholics, however, are not allowed to recognize the authority of the pope - avoids conflicts of leadership.
The final segment of "Country Driving" covers two years in Lishui - a newly built manufacturing small town in southeastern China. Starting wages were about 47 cents/hour, though those persistent and with prior 'claimed' background could get more. (Many lied about both their age and experience.) Per capita GDP was about $1,460 in 2006 - much higher than rural areas, and illustrative of the tension within China over equality of economic opportunity. About half the town's revenue came from taxes, and the rest from land 'sales' that involved changing permitted use from agriculture to industrial. (Land status in China is confusing - as best I understand, it can't be sold, but it can be leased). Considerable corruption occurs through officials forcing occupants to give up tenancy for below-market reimbursement, then turning the site over to others at much higher rates associated with new 'zoning' and collecting a hefty 'fee.' A side effect of obtaining sizable revenues through rezoning is that towns become overly reliant on growth for stable revenues - the central government is attempting to change this.
Readers learn near the end that Hessler received a number of photo radar tickets for speeding, that local police invest in the individual photo-radar machines for a share of the revenues, and that they were strategically placed to maximize revenues.
Bottom-Line: "Country Driving" provides good insight into rural life in China, and especially how its education system encourages achievement and fitting into adult society. On the other hand, Hessler's failure to include even a single photo is quite aggravating because it is easy to become interested in some of his characters. The 'good news' is a little Internet research re Sancha, Wei Jia, and Lishui corrects that omission - I was particularly delighted to find photos of Wei Jia in his subsequent early teen-age years guiding Olympic tourists outside his village.
Hilarious and terrifying, in a way June 8, 2010
Thomas Koetzsch (Hong Kong)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Peter Hessler wrote an excellent book about the hazards of driving in China and while doing so he became a close observer about the (micro)-economic development in China. I found his book hilarious because the many anecdotes he tells should make you laugh out loud. What I found terrifying about this tale are the author's observations about economic life in China. This book should be compulsory reading for a lot of people in the west, if only to understand what is really going on in China.
Part One of the Book deals with Hessler's road trip along the wall and back. Given that foreigners are not supposed to leave Beijing Municipality, this is quite a feat. I couldn't decide whether the many questions he quotes from the Chinese driving exam are for real or if he made them up. I have no idea if it is allowed to bring small amounts of explosive material into a taxi but I would instinctively answer "Yes". Hessler tells many stories about the Chinese style of driving and if you have been to China none of these will be unfamiliar to you. I read somewhere that Peter Hessler was terrified of the Chinese style of driving. I would wager that the Americans were probably more terrified of him, when he re-joined traffic in the US.
In Part Two, Hessler rents a house in some village north of Beijing and it is incredible to observe through his eyes how the place develops with his "Family" developing from a level of poverty hardly any of us would be able to imagine into "the entrepreneur" of the village. One might be inclined to believe that this development was exceptional but as you read on it becomes quite clear that this sort of thing is happening all over China. In Part Three, Hessler writes about a development zone in Southern Zhejiang in general and about a bra ring production plant in particular. And again it is incredible to observe how this development takes place.
All told I found this book a real page turner and I can only highly recommend it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 33
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