Country Driving
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Peter Hessler, longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, talks about his seven-year road trip around China, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming the country. In Country Driving, he describes his trips to the Tibetan plateau, to the small farming village Sancha, and to Lishui, a small southeastern city--all places being changed by new roads, growing traffic, and a more mobile society.
Event: Peter Hessler will be speaking
Tuesday, February 9, at at 6:30 pm
Asia Society
725 Park Avenue, at 71st Street

Comments [7]
ling/2 answer is no, he speaks for himself. personally i, another white guy, couldn't care less about chinese smugness vs. american superiority (vs. haitian pride vs. north korean uniqueness blah blah blah). if you require a representative for the white psych let it be me. although to stand up for ll i doubt he got his power in the scary way that you describe, i'd guess it was more like talent, hard work, luck and good parenting.
sherry -- hard to believe if you are under 50. i haven't heard of that kind of ignorance in the nyc area for literally decades.
Leonard remarks that when he was living in Chinatown and spoke Chinese, the Chinese community reacted as if he were the "monkey" who can speak. Hello?? I am Asian American and grew up in Brooklyn. Growing up in Brooklyn (and sometimes even now as an adult in NYC!), white people sometimes stare at me in awe when I speak English. I can't tell you how many times they have said to me "Wow, you speak really good English!" I'm sorry that Leonard felt like a "monkey" in Chinatown. I feel like a "monkey" all the time here in America.
Superb guest and interview! Please invite him back.
How did China get so sold on the idea of these fantastic maglev trains? The USA is talking about near high speed rail trains, and China is way beyond us in this respect?
Leonardo, your obsession only magnifies your insecurity. LOL! Are you representative of the white psyche unable to contemplate adjustment to not being #1 and losing some of that power you got from theft, slavery and extermination of peoples? Well then, we're all in for a rough time with you long death throes.
What do people think about the outside world? About democracy or America or the communist party?
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