River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

by PeterHessler (Author)

Synopsis

When Peter Hessler went to China in the late 1990s, he expected to spend a couple of peaceful years teaching English in the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River. But what he experienced -- the natural beauty, cultural tension, and complex process of understanding that takes place when one is thrust into a radically different society -- surpassed anything he could have imagined. Hessler observes firsthand how major events such as the death of Deng Xiaoping, the return of Hong Kong to the mainland, and the controversial construction of the Three Gorges Dam have affected even the people of a remote town like Fuling. Poignant, thoughtful and utterly compelling, 'River Town' is an unforgettable portrait of a place caught mid-river in time, much like China itself -- a country seeking to understand both what it was and what it will one day become.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 412
Publisher: John Murray
Published: 08 Mar 2001

ISBN 10: 0719561566
ISBN 13: 9780719561566
Book Overview: An account of Peter Hessler's time in the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River during the late Nineties. He observes the natural beauty, cultural tensions and how major events such as the return of Hong Kong to the mainland have affected the people of Fuling.
Prizes: Shortlisted for Thomas Cook Travel Book Award 2002.

Media Reviews
I wish it were twice as long...I am not the only China-watcher who will wish they had written this book Jonathan Mirsky
Author Bio
Peter Hessler is a graduate of Princeton and Oxford, and has written for The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly and other publications. Raised in the United States, he now lives in Bejing.