When faced with an unexpected fifteen minutes of free time,
many of my friends turn to a book:
the newest young adult vampire novel, a historical fiction that has received rave reviews, or the latest best seller. I gladly walk past all of these sections in the public library to
the sparsely populated shelves of the newly-acquired non-fiction books.
I am in search of a new read in the travel genre, and if
possible, a book about travel and life in China. I confess that I relish in living vicariously through
other’s adventures: hiking to ancient Buddhist temples nestled in mountains that touch the clouds, or eating food drowned in mounds of chili peppers. These are things that I’m
either unable or unwilling to experience, at least at this moment.
But lately, I have been searching for myself and my own
experiences within these texts.
What did they discover teaching English in rural China? What unexpected adventures did they
encounter driving on the country’s highways? What difficulties did they face raising their children in
another country?
All this to say that in February, I will begin a new thread, Reading China, in which I’ll
review books about living and traveling in contemporary China that fall in the travel or other non-fiction genres.
I’ll review newly-published books as well as some favorites from years
past.
If you are itching to get a head start, here are a few names
from the reading list: Peter Hessler, Alan Paul, J. Maarten Troost, Jan Wong,
and Leslie Chang. Curious? Check back in February for my review of
Peter Hessler’s Country Driving (Harper
Perennial: 2011).
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