Good introduction to rural China

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	• River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.) Peter Hessler Harper Perennial, 2006 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 163 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

River Town-Learn While Reading

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book that guides you through the experiences of life in a remote village in China from a American who is the first white person to live in their community.

Unsparing honesty

Here are a few of the many reasons to like River Town, Peter Hessler's account of the two years he spent as a Peace Corps volunteer in the city of Fuling, in Sichuan province in China. First, it's so honest. Hessler includes the good and the bad, including all of his mistakes and misunderstandings. In particular, I admire Hessler's unsparing account of the hostile crowd incident, which occurs just before he is about to leave Fuling. Then there's the artful way he interweaves observations about history, particularly the effects of the past (in particular, the Cultural Revolution) and the future (the construction of the Three Gorges dam). If you've ever spent any time living in a society very different from your own, you'll appreciate the way Hessler depicts the things that make him uncomfortable in Fuling (even though he becomes used to many of them): the constant honking of cars, the pollution, the way people stared at him or screamed "hah--looo" in his face, the obligatory drinking bouts. Most of all, however, there is his skill at characterizing the many people he meets; he has an eye for the detail that makes the people of Fuling seem as if you've met them too, even though you never will.

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An engaging, authentic account

Having lived in China and learned the language, I found this an engaging account with many insights. I was grateful not to find the exaggerations and distortions one often finds in China books jazzed up for Western readers. Well done.

Good introduction to rural China

Comments - This book was recommended reading prior to our joining a Tour
Group to Middle China. Very readable! A lot of information about Chinese
culture. We passsed Fuling on our Yangtze River Cruise. Hessler is a good
writer.

Amazing

This is probably the best nonfiction book that I have ever read. It is an excellent story about one man's time in China with the Peace Corps. I would highly advise anyone to read this.

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