Product Description

The peasant revolutionary turned lifestyle guru, the former Shaolin monk working on a Shanghai building site, the once-conservative father running a gay hotline - and the teenagers who just want to dress up as their favourite Japanese cartoon characters - welcome to the new China, a nation in motion, where whole streets are rebuilt in a week, car ownership is soaring, education goes private and rural workers migrate to the cities in search of a better life.It is a transformation that has swept through the country since the first economic reforms of the 1980s, when Deng Xiaoping announced that China would have to 'let some of the people get rich first'. But while many have benefited under the new 'aspiration nation,' others are struggling to keep up in what is now one of the most divided societies on earth. Former BBC correspondent Duncan Hewitt lives and works in China and has witnessed first hand the impact and speed of these vast social and economic upheavals. His timely book speaks with the voices of everyday people as they learn to adapt to one of the most rapid transformations in human history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259621 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Guardian
'Hewitt is adept at finding interviewees who talk candidly and illuminatingly, and individual stories that illustrate wider trends.'

The Guardian Unlimited
'excellent... a gripping account written from the inside and with
a great deal of vivid detail'

The Scotsman
'...lively and human portrait of a society living in extraordinarily
interesting times'

Customer Reviews

Excellent!
Probably as overseas Chinese, we are very familiar with Mao's Old Three Articles which every Chinese was required to recite during the Cultural Revolution. However, when I travel and live in the seemingly more civilized West, I have to face the Old Three Articles made in the West: "Human rights, Tibet and Democracy". I have no intention to trivialize the West Old Three Articles. However, I found the Western version and the endless political campaigns carried out by the media to be as boring as Mao's. The only difference is that the people in the West do not appear to be as cynical to the Western Old Threes as the Chinese are to Mao's Old Threes.

I found myself in tears reading this book: Duncan Hewitt really cares. He really went to different parts of the country, reached people from different backgrounds and successfully showed the diversity of the country. Importantly, he demonstrates that there is no such thing as collectivized Chinese people; the Chinese people are individuals having their own interests, which may not be the same as the Government's and the Party's. This is an insider's view from a person who lives in China, observes and writes diligently and has a good command of the Chinese cynicism, which often proves illusive to the rest of the world.

In this book he looks into a wide range of major social changes and challenges that are taking place in China. These are a reflection of what the Chinese people really talk about on a daily basis. The Old Threes are not missed out, but you can find much more. The discussions are supported by vivid and often entertaining observations and interviews.

His book gives an almost thorough account of the rapid changes that the country is going through. However, he writes with such a sense of calm that one can sense that he has patiently tried to understand the country.

This is a living history. It tells so much about China and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is either seriously interested in understanding modern China and the people, including the millions of expatriates like Duncan Hewitt living in China, or anyone who wants to know something about China but will not be satisfied with the Mao style Western "Old Three Articles".

Brilliant
A tremendously thorough yet concise and easily digestible look at China in the present day, covering the monumental and multi-faceted changes that have taken place in the preceding 15 to 20 years leading up to what we see now. Eye-opening and mind-expanding, in parts funny and in parts sad. I had previously very limited knowledge about China, this is a wonderful grounding. It has further intrigued me as to what the future will bring, of this vast nation in transformation of a scale and speed that mankind has never witnessed before, that which already affects all of us, and will only more so in years to come.

Boring summation of general information
This book seemed really interesting but after having wasted hours upon reading the first 100 pages of the book I feel deeply disappointed. The books starts with a really interesting and well written introduction that got me in the right mood. However as chapter 1 commenced the style completely changed.

The book tells of very random macro scale happenings. I find these of little value because you get to hear about them on the news and such all the time. What interests me is getting a first hand look into Chinese society and hearing the things that are not so generally known and told.

The point where I had had enough was the point where the author had the chance to make it really interesting and then blew it:
The author tells about huge relocation programs where people were being moved from their traditional homes to new suburbs. This already started bad as the author seemed really opinionated and presented it as the evil Chinese government moving poor helpless people using criminal means. The fact that these people were being well compensated for a house they had been given (for free) during the communist regime and that the new houses had things as running water, plumbing and private lavatories was reduced to little more than a footnote. I like being able to draw my own conclusion rather than have an author pushing his point of view on me.
However, it was getting interesting when the author told about an evening where he went to see a friend and he found that this friend was currently negotiating with the relocating company (described as not being the friendliest). He told his friend that he would leave, then the woman from the relocating company comes and demands who he is and what he wants. Any good author would know that this is could become an interesting chapter in the book and would try to talk to the woman to find out more. Instead the author decides to leave. The woman follows him and accuses him openly of trying to undermine China. Still the author does not start the dialogue but instead gets into a taxi and leaves.

This really blew it for me. If as an author you are too afraid to talk to people then anything you write can also be found with some googling and has no contributing value for the reader.

I think it is a real pity that the author did not use his opportunities to gain first hand experience as I am sure that that would have made a very enticing read.

My advice is: Don't buy this book