Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler
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Fans of Peter Hessler are in for a treat with the release of his newest, Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory. Hessler lived in China almost continuously from 1996 until the big pre-Olympic clearout of foreign residents in 2009. In that time he managed a fair mastery of Putonghua, and from 2001 until 2009 he was The New Yorker‘s freelance correspondent in Beijing. Country Driving compiles the results of three research projects which originally appeared as articles either in that magazine or in National Geographic. As such, the book consists of three long, magazine-style articles on three rather different Chinese topics.
By 2001, Hessler had learned enough written Chinese to tackle the driving test and acquire a Chinese licence. This allowed him to set off on two long road trips across northern China visiting, Bill Bryson-like, obscure spots along the way. He quickly learned to avoid tourist attractions, but his car allowed him to visit many small villages inaccessible to the usual foreign traveler. Among many other interesting discoveries, Hessler learned that much of rural China remains officially closed to foreigners, even if the fact of the closure remains a secret even to those who live there.
Day-to-day village life is another topic beyond the reach of most foreigners, but during his time in Beijing Hessler rented a decrepit house in a mountain village as a weekend retreat. When he first arrived the village was so ill-connected that news was still broadcast through a system of propaganda loudspeakers mounted on poles among the houses. Befriending the few villagers, Hessler was gradually able, over several years, to piece together an in-depth understanding of village life. Among many other obscure topics, he came to understand the grassroots workings of the Communist Party, something still little understood even in Hong Kong, where the party remains underground.
Hessler’s third project was to follow the founding and growth of an infant firm launched in a new industrial park near the southern manufacturing hub of Wenzhou. Over a period of more than a year he shuttled between the firm’s migrant workers, the bosses and local officials, and Country Driving presents a fascinating narrative and analysis of the processes underlying China’s industrial takeoff.
Originating as it does in a series of magazine articles, the book presents on almost every page in-depth discussion in very readable style of topics as diverse as how walnuts are harvested, wandering minstrels and the automobile preferences of different Chinese social classes. For example,
Young urban women are called xiaojie...and nowadays most xiaojie cultivate a distinct physical helplessness. They are great arm-flailers and foot-stampers; they wear impractical clothes and they stagger around on stiletto heels. Everything is designed to attract attention, and in the entire animal kingdom there’s no more striking vision than a xiaojie running to catch a cab. It’s like the mating dance of a peacock: plumage everywhere, a stunning profligacy of flash and color, so much movement combined with so little obvious purpose.
Such analysis would make Country Driving a highly readable reference for anyone embarking on a career in Chinese business but for the complete lack of any index. For the rest of us, though, Hessler’s latest remains a fascinating look at many aspects of Chinese life written in an engaging style worthy of The New Yorker.