Country Driving is a very good book. The first part is about driving around the Great Wall of China. That was interesting. Besides learning about the Great Wall, you learn a bit about Chinese bureaucracy and customs. I thought this was going to be a travelogue, but it isn't really. I think its a very good way to get a view of China outside of its cities. Look at the policeman in the picture above. He's made of plexiglass. This figures aren't just in the country, they are in the cities. All with the hope of taming Chinese traffic.
I know some of you have been to China and have seen that mess. Cars without dings are the ones that are coming off the factory floor. Everybody else has dings. Hessler rents a house outside Beijing in the second part of this book. He becomes attached to a family there, driving them to emergencies and becoming a part of their lives. And we learn about the life of one of the millions of entrepreneurs in this country. And we learn more about the role of women. It is as you would expect.
We also learn that China does not have universal health care. Aren't they Communists? Isn't that what we are afraid of becoming when we get think about health care in America? Once again, we are sorely misinformed.
Finally Hessler investigates a factory in one of China's Economic Zones. This is where American jobs are going. What's funny is that Chinese businessmen are like our impressions of American business owners. At least the greedy ones. No unions (aren't they Communist inspired groups?) and no regard for worker's health or well-being. Really, if you think about it, if you have hundreds of millions of casual laborers, why worry about losing a few?
Read this. Or read a different good book about China outside it's politics.
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