Peter Hessler and Country Driving: The Industrialization China to a Modernization China - Essay Example

Peter Hessler and Country Driving: The Industrialization China to a Modernization China The story of China during the past century and its experience in the contemporary period is an interesting narrative of transition. For the most part of the imperial China on to the present Communist regime, it has been closed to the world and its people have been familiar with the idea that they do not need the outside world or its interference in order to thrive. But this circumstance is rapidly changing today. China, with its explosive economic growth and integration with the world is experiencing drastic changes that transformed, first, its cities, and now, the countryside. Peter Hessler's Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip (2010) is an interesting account of this development. The book provides insightful details about how change is occurring from the ground up. As he embarked in a road trip to cross China, Hessler was able to depict how the country and its people are changing and how everybody copes in the process. However, while one can say that it is an entertaining and interesting read about the changes in China, it does not offer any new insights in addition to the fact that it lacks depth because there is no substantial historical and geographical content. Hessler began his narrative with an account of his encounter with the Chinese car culture. He started this with an explanation of the rudiments of embarking on his road trip. Here, he was able to briefly outline the state of affairs from the position of the authorities. As he sought permits for his travel, such as when he secured a driver's license back in 2001, he was able to present an engrossing account of the behavior of modern Chinese bureaucracy. For instance, he focused a portion of this thematic exploration to the questions of the driving test. He cited many of these, intending to demonstrate the current behavior in the state rules and humor that went with the naiveté or the innocence. Say, question number 223 states: “If you come to a road that has been flooded, you should: Accelerate so the motor doesn’t flood. Stop, examine the water to make sure it’s shallow, and drive across slowly. Find a pedestrian and make him cross ahead of you (p. 8).” There are numerous details that collectively paint an interesting, at times amusing but often trivial observation on the authority’s position and behavior. While it included a factual experience with the sheer number of requirements involved in securing a permit, demonstrating how driving is something that is taken seriously in the country, the observation of the encounter with the bureaucracy is superficial. Hessler could have written a little more than about a Chinese officially efficiently scribbling something in his notes and gushing about his driving skills. There is a need to cover other information such as the under the table dealings that typify the bureaucratic procedures. For instance, there is the case of guanxi, which is the cultivation, reliance and exploitation of connections to the government in order to bypass bureaucratic processes. This has been fleetingly mentioned in the latter part of the book, which only explored the concept in the context of business enterprise. As a matter of fact, he was able to identify it through a character who explained that it is even a source of pride (p. 211). It is unbelievable that with the years that Hessler stayed in China, he did not personally experience this aspect of Chinese culture and could not make his own account on this subject. As the author found himself traversing the Chinese roads leading to the Great Wall, he was not able to keep himself from commenting about the way many roads are still without names and The Chinese Automobile Driver’s Book of Maps. These seemingly trivial observations were designed to depict the modern Chinese state. The unlabeled roads represent the rapid facelift currently taking place with the flurry of infrastructure developments in the country. There is a sense conveyed of unbridled spending and unlimited financial resources that is identified as an implication that is subtly explained. This information, however, is not something new. The impact of the economic development has been the subject of numerous literature written about modern China and Hessler is not offering any new insight. If he was able to discuss this area with a strong historical basis, then it would have been a more effective and refreshing approach. Hessler initiated an interesting perspective by intimating how a culture is shaping itself around an aspect of modernity that is adopting but never trampled upon in the process. But he never really explored this aspect to the fullest. For example, there is an insistence of identity that can sometimes make one think that China is exploiting modernity for its benefit and not the other way around. Hessler’s work had the power to make people think and understand about the big developments happening such as the economics and the politics prevailing in the country. However, the author did not pursue this focusing instead on individuals and their experiences, hoping to cover some of the issues in these spheres, which – to evaluate – is not really much. In Book II, Hessler narrated the second theme in his tale, which revolved around the way rural China is keeping up with all the changes that transpire in the country. In this aspect, he achieved some degree of success. He lived in a village in rural Sancha and made friends with a local, Wei Ziqi. Most of his narrative revolved around his interactions with each members of the family, Wei, the father, his wife, Cao Chunmei and their child Wei Jia. Hessler was either lucky or simply has this extraordinary way with people that by choosing to spend time with this family and focusing on their story, he was able to present a slice of China’s provincial life. Wei was a peasant, but because of the limited opportunity due to his lack of education, he stayed in his village to farm (p.134). Through the increasing wealth that comes with China’s prosperity, he was finally able to become a small entrepreneur. This is not surprising because “Wei Ziqi is naturally intelligent” (p.134). He found that he could profit from tourism and have established a restaurant for his wife to augment the family income. As a result he became increasingly prosperous, earning for himself an invitation to the Communist Party as a consequence. This is the more obvious of Hessler’s narrative about the Chinese rural life. The rural China is developing as much as what is seen in its bustling cities. This was underpinned, however, by the consequences of these economic changes. Hessler, successfully chronicled some of the more important ones. With the availability of money, the things that it can buy as well as its impact on the Chinese lifestyle, Hessler was able to identify several of adverse consequences. First, there was Wei’s vice, which was cigarettes and alcohol. His wife was also increasingly becoming disenchanted with their lifestyle. Their child eats junk food and watches TV all the time. These issues, among others such as the rural medical capabilities, and the village life, with its gossips and way of life were all told in a simple and insightful account. The multi-faceted description and depiction of the village at Sancha, provokes thought about the dynamics of the way ordinary people navigate China’s new found economic might. When the previous theme focused on the family and ordinary people, Book III described industry. Hessler used the town of Lishui to contextualize this theme. It is the town where “a new expressway would soon have an exit” (p.287) This also part depicts the failure cited in Book I. Hessler used several individual characters to cover the changes that transpire in the town. There were the employees who are hunting for work, laborers who are building huge factories and infrastructures such as dams and the decision makers, who provided the information about the industries and their operations. This section provided yet another account of the two dimensions of development in China. On one hand, there is the opportunity entailed. On the other, there is the dissatisfaction that came with uprooting people to give way to the construction of new monuments to modernization, among other related issues such as those pertaining to labor, health and social problems. Again, the insights were simplistic. At the end of this discourse, the reader ended up no more informed about the dynamics of doing business in China particularly for foreigners. There is a need to emphasize the good and the bad in this respect. Hessler obsessed with the former and brushed through the latter. Hessler has lived in China for almost a decade. And so I was expecting a little more depth from his narrative other than this gushing, “fan-boy” peg he assumed for this book. Of course, the accounts were entertaining and engrossing but, unfortunately, books are not made mainly on account of writing style. He focused on his characters, merely reporting their lives. That is effective to some extent until he started imbibing their prejudices and personal biases. All in all, say, I am someone visiting China for the first time and happen to pick-up this book. After reading, I cannot say that I have acquired a deeper understanding of China and its people in the context of the current development, its culture and history. Reference Hessler, P. (2010). Country Driving: A Roadtrip to China. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. Read More