His village remained mired in extreme poverty and isolation. Wei Ziqi, like the other residents of Sancha, lived in the old China for most of his life.

It is so different from the China of my parents and grandparents: the China where everyone was told what to do and nobody was supposed to do anything other than that. Everyday there are new roads, new cars, new drivers, new business, new rules and new development.

The book is about change, because that is what China is all about these days. In the final section, Hessler describes how a little town in Zhejiang has become a boomtown in large part due to a newly built expressway. He saw the effects on Wei’s family and the village as China’s economic development trickled into this previously isolated pocket of rural life. The second part focuses on Wei Ziqi and his family, who live in Sancha, a village in the rural hinterlands of Beijing. For six years, Hessler rented a weekend home from this family and built deep connections with them. He spoke with people he met along the road and observed first hand how automobile ownership and the boom in new highway construction have transformed interior regions of China. The book has three distinct sections: The first recounts Hessler’s experiences driving along the Great Wall from Beijing toward the Tibetan plateau, a trip of nearly 7,000 miles. Peter Hessler’s new book Country Driving is one of those mirrors. The bad books occasionally rate a mocking giggle, but the better ones are like mirrors that reflect the country, the people, and yourself. Of course, some are good, others…not so much. Ed note: This is a guest post by Zhang Yajun.Īs a Chinese person, books written by foreigners about my country always intrigue me.

Country driving by peter hessler