Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory

Read Now Enlarge Image Country Driving A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory By Peter Hessler
“Hessler has a marvelous sense of the intonations and gestures that give life to the moment.” —The New York Times Book Review From Peter Hessler, the New York Times bestselling author of Oracle Bones and River Town, comes Country Driving, the third and final book in his award-winning China trilogy. Country Driving addresses the human side of the economic revolution in China, focusing on economics and development, and shows how the auto boom helps China shift from rural to urban, from farming to business. Book Description From the bestselling author of Oracle Bones and River Town comes the final book in his award-winning trilogy, on the human side of the economic revolution in China. In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China. Hessler writes movingly of the average people—farmers, migrant workers, entrepreneurs—who have reshaped the nation during one of the most critical periods in its modern history. Country Driving begins with Hessler's 7,000-mile trip across northern China, following the Great Wall, from the East China Sea to the Tibetan plateau. He investigates a historically important rural region being abandoned, as young people migrate to jobs in the southeast. Next Hessler spends six years in Sancha, a small farming village in the mountains north of Beijing, which changes dramatically after the local road is paved and the capital's auto boom brings new tourism. Finally, he turns his attention to urban China, researching development over a period of more than two years in Lishui, a small southeastern city where officials hope that a new government-built expressway will transform a farm region into a major industrial center. Peter Hessler, whom The Wall Street Journal calls "one of the Western world's most thoughtful writers on modern China," deftly illuminates the vast, shifting landscape of a traditionally rural nation that, having once built walls against foreigners, is now building roads and factory towns that look to the outside world.
Author Extras Peter Hessler Biography
Critical Praise for Country Driving “A fascinating road trip through a land in transition. . . . Hessler’s description of China’s new drivers is hilarious. . . . Country Driving tells us as much about contemporary China even when Hessler is not on the road.” — The Christian Science Monitor “The best yet from Peter Hessler, whose two earlier books, River Town and Oracle Bones, were exemplary forays into the genre. . . . Told with his characteristic blend of empathy, insight, and self-deprecating humor.” — Time “Peter Hessler, a modern Marco Polo crossing China in a rented Jeep Cherokee, has witnessed signs and wonders worthy of a Coen brothers film. . . . Every so often, I read a book that upends my perceptions about a place. This is one of them.” — Bloomberg News “Hessler has made a career of interpreting contemporary China and, for my money, nobody does it better. . . . Hessler is a magnificent guide to this largely uncharted territory, witty, insightful, keenly aware of the ironies of this communist-capitalist society.” — The Minneapolis Star Tribune “If you want to understand today’s China, and the forces changing it, you need to read Country Driving.” — The Huffington Post “Hessler is a keen observer of mind-catching details and an engaging storyteller. . . . Full of exotic detail, solid reporting, and ironic observation, Country Driving offers a personal snapshot of the world’s second superpower hurtling through the 21st century.” — The Boston Globe “Lively. . . . Engaging. . . . Hessler sets out with some suspect maps and a great deal of bravado. . . . He shows the effects China’s ever expanding network of roads exerts on individual lives. . . . Hessler [has an] irresistible urge to follow a story.” — The New York Times Book Review “Delightful. . . . Epic. . . . The reporting in Country Driving is impressive in its scope. . . . Hessler delivers eloquent disquisitions on everything from how to buy a used car in China to the history of the Mongol conquest.” — Dwight Garner, The New York Times “Hessler’s genius has always been in his wry commentary and ability to transcribe the rhythms of his environment onto the page. . . . From this cast of thousands emerges a picture of great hopes tinged with sadness at what is being cast aside without second thought.” — The Wall Street Journal “Extraordinary. . . . Country Driving, like Hessler’s previous works, tells the story of China’s transformation powerfully and poetically.” — The Economist “Exceptionally moving. . . . Hilarious. . . . An absolutely terrific book, at once highly entertaining and deeply instructive. . . . Country Driving is a wonderful book about China that also happens to be a terrific book about the human race. — Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post View more ISBN: 9780061804090; ISBN10: 0061804096; Imprint: Harper ; On Sale: 2/9/2010; Format: Hardcover; Trimsize: 6 x 9; Pages: 448; $27.99; Ages: 18 and Up; BISAC1:TRV003020 寻常巷陌里的中国变迁 作者：英国《金融时报》中文网专栏作家 连清川 字号 最大 较大 默认 较小 最小 背景 收藏 电邮 打印 评论 对于许多中国人来说，过去的10年时光是雷霆万钧的。这个国家发生的是翻天覆地的变化。加入世贸了，香港回归了。奥运举行了，世博展览了。中产出现了，汽车进门了。如果要列举类似于这样的大时代，大故事，大变迁，每个人都似乎都有着那么多的话要说。 可是，一切是否真的都那么宏大？对于个体的命运来说，一场号称举国自豪的奥运会，真的曾经影响了你的日常生活？或者说，当你将眼光微缩到寻常巷陌的时候，是否还能够有如此霹雳雷声？而或者，你只看见了家长里短的苦痛，微不足道的挣扎？ 或者，我们都容易被那些宏大叙事所牵引，忘却了身边的细小故事。而美国《纽约客》杂志前驻中国记者何伟（Peter Hessler），通过他的书《寻路中国》（Country Driving），恰恰给我们讲述的，就是他沿着长城驾驶、在北京郊区一个名为三岔的小村租住、在浙江丽水采访所遭逢的一些小人物的寻常故事。 大时代的变迁，是由无数细屑和无名所组合起来的；而这些微小的变迁，才真正构筑了大时代变化的实质。寻常巷陌里的中国变迁，才是确实的、真切的变迁。“重要的时光，多是私人的”，就像何伟所说。 连清川（以下简称“连”）：在“三岔”一章（指书中的《村庄》），看起来你好像感叹中国农村的变化，或者是商业化。你认为这对于中国所有的农村来说是无法避免的变化吗？这是一个正面的，还是负面的进程？或者你认为有其它的变化方式？ 何伟（以下简称“何”）：我认为基本的经济提升，和个体自由与责任的提升，是好事。这没有什么问题。人们不应当保持贫穷以保持简单或者独特。 我有时候觉得如果这些变化能够慢一些会更好了。它对于中国人来说太剧烈了。我想结果是许多情绪上的不稳定。我也希望人们能够得到更好的支持系统。我指的是那些与公民社会相关的机构。 连：在丽水那一章（指书中的《工厂》）中，你用丽水来比较美国西进时期，并且评论说中国的变迁缺乏公民社会的参与。你认为它逐渐会来到吗？或者你干脆就是悲观的？ 何：我认为它逐渐会发生的。许多中国人也很关心这个问题。虽然，有时我也认为中国人认为本身就是那样的（连注：指公民社会的缺乏）——他们没有意识到其它的社会有很强的公民社会传统和对社区组织的尊重。 我不清楚这种变化将会如何发生。也许这要求有政治变化。并且，这要求更多的中国人能够认识到这个问题。 连：在书中所涉及的时间段里，有许多重大的事件发生，包括奥运会。但你的书中极少提及，为什么？ 何：我在奥运会之前结束了魏的故事。我并不认为奥运会对于这个家庭和这个村庄是非常重要的。我的确和魏全家一起去看了奥运会，还写了个报道给《纽约客》，但它看起来和这本书不相容。 我一直认为中国所发生的重大事件是不相干的。我写的这段时间有种奇怪的特性，从1996到2008年左右。许多大事件发生了——香港回归，邓小平去 世，轰炸大使馆，SARS，奥运会等等。但你看看人们的真实生活，这些事件并非非常有意义。重要的时光，都是私人的——人们离开家庭，或者找到一个新工 作，或者找到受教育以及更好筹谋未来的方法，这样的时光。这是一个社会故事而不是政治故事，而这在未来会改变中国。当然，我很幸运我不用非常近距离地报道 这些事件。这只会浪费我的时间。相反地我可以关注个人和社区。 连：你写了许多关于中国的转型与传统之间的冲突，你怎么看这个问题？你觉得转型会抹杀传统吗？或者你认为有什么方法可以保存它们？ 何：对于任何一个正在迅速变化的社会来说这都是个关键问题。在中国这尤其有趣，因为这个社会直接转向对抗它的传统。这个进程开始于清朝末年，在毛时代加剧了——当然在改革时期也继续着，多数是因为人们更加富裕并且流动性更大了。 我想我的感觉是有些传统比我们想象的更加具有调适性，或者至少他们会以令人惊异的方式回归。比如说，许多中国传统宗教在过去十年中变得更加显性。但 是人们应当注意到会丢失掉一些社会传统，比如说，尊敬和赡养老人。这是一个我一直认为中国比美国好得多的素质。但是它也开始在许多变化中堕落了。 连：魏子淇试图获得村支书职位的努力很有意思，它看起来很像是更高层的政治斗争的一面镜子。你觉得民主变迁会长期保持一个模糊的状态，还是像魏子淇这样的人会逐渐改变现有的情形？ 何：我怀疑系统改革需要比较长的时间。魏子淇就像其他中国那些聪明、有能力的人一样——他判断改变现状并不是最符合他的利益的。他最初采取了行动， 试图成为村支书，但是他被打败了，于是他就后退了。我觉得这在中国是一个普遍教训。我的感觉是至少需要10年中国的政治才会发生有意义的变化。但是谁知道 呢？没人可以预测这样的事情。 连：三岔和丽水的故事都涉及到了农村的城市化，涉及农民转变成商人或工人，你看到的是全面的城市化吗？你觉得这其中的代价是什么？ 何：当然，这其中有巨大的环境代价。城市扩张的方式、支持城市扩张所需的资本扩张方式，这值得担忧。并且也有一些社会代价，在个人、家庭和社区遭遇如此众多的转型时他们的关系也经受折磨。 即便如此，还是有好的现象。我认为终极而言对于人们来说是好的，他们觉得可以自己做决定干什么，住哪里，他们想成为什么样的人。这在不久之前的中国 还无法实现，但是今天越来越成为真实。我崇敬许多移民所显示出来的自立和信心，至少是那些成功了的。我觉得这是一个必要的过程——简单地说，中国农村里有 太多人了。他们不可避免要经历从农村到城市的进程。考虑到所有因素，我相信人们处理的非常出色。我非常高兴这建立在个体动机的基础之上，而不是政府或者其 他实体强迫人们迁移，告诉他们必须去哪里。 Books by Peter Hessler Oracle Bones From the acclaimed author of River Town comes a rare portrait, both intimate and epic, of twenty-first-century China as it opens its doors to the outside world. A century ago, outsiders saw Chinaas a place where nothing ever changes. Today the coun-try has become one of the most dynamic regions on... River Town A New York Times Notable Book Winner of the Kiriyama Book Prize In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and... View more books by Peter Hessler »