Country Driving : A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory

from xiaomarlo

Another gem by my favourite contemporary writer about China. This time he tackles driving, life in the northern countryside, and life in the Zhejiang factory zones. I hope he writes more books because I would read them.

from bostonian71

Must-read for anyone even remotely interested in China. Hessler was the New Yorker's Beijing correspondent during the years covered in his book, and he writes about the country's rush toward modernization with a keen but sympathetic eye. The title of the book is a little misleading, as this isn't...

from nemoman

Hessler, a long-term China resident , takes driving trips throughout China, while observing both peasant life ( which is being transformed) and the new entrepreneurs who are transforming city life. His writing is excellent - William Least Heat Moon meets John Mcphee., with a softened Paul Theroux...

from untraveller

Better maps....that is my only complaint. A funny book and an excellent document of life in turn of the 21st century China, otherwise. I have still to read Oracle Bones and then the trilogy is complete.

from bezoar44

This is the author's third book, after River Town and Oracle Bones. The three parts of the book describe two driving tours in northern China, life in a rural village north of Beijing, and life in a new factory zone in Zhejiang province, in southern China. One of Hessler's gifts as a writer is his...