High Tech and Hot Pot
Stephan Orth
After
hosting a Chinese student in his Hamburg flat, Orth decides to embark
on a journey across China. Of course, he doesn't divulge to the
authorities that he is a journalist. He wants to travel around and
try his hand at "couch-surfing" with locals, if possible,
to see how they view their own country and the wider world.
I
found some of this book interesting, and I'm always amazed at how
quickly the Chinese can build and develop sprawling metropolises. It
often makes me feel like the West is lagging behind. But as Orth
shows while he travels from one large city to another, all the
development might come at a price, which made his chapter about
searching for Shangri-la all the more enjoyable.
I do wish he
had included a map of China for reference; it would have been a great
addition. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like this book added anything
new about China's development. I liked that the author showed how his
hosts were feeling about their own lives and sometimes about how they
view the rest of the world. He also dealt a lot with the increasing
security surveillance in the country, which some readers will view as
a restrictive practice. But, it would be useful to point out that in
the West, especially the United States, our habits and movements are
tracked by large data companies and credit companies that also,
significantly, determine how we can live our lives.
I was
hoping for a little more focus on the country's phenomenal economic
growth and maybe a bit more about ordinary people and their
expectations. To be fair, this is a travelogue, and it does what it
claims, it showcases the author's journey from one area to another.
Thanks to Library Thing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
