Driving Change

Country Driving
by Peter Hessler

China is a frequent topic of travel literature these days.  I can't even begin to keep track of how many books I have read in the past couple years.  The most recent would include The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester, Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows, and now Country Driving by Peter Hessler.  Country Driving, which was mentioned on several best of the year lists, is the third in a trilogy that begins with River Town and Oracle Bones.  I have not read either of these first two books, but they are definitely on my TBR list now.  I absolutely loved Country Driving.

In this book, Hessler has just obtained his Chinese driving license, something that an increasing number of Chinese citizens are now able to do.  Not owning a car, he rents a variety of cars and explores far beyond the boundaries of his rental contracts.  The book is divided into three sections, each touching on a different aspect of the rapid changes China is experiencing and demonstrating how that change is so fast, the culture and infrastructure of the country cannot keep up.  He starts by tracing the ancient history of China with a travel route along the Great Wall.  He visits many small and dying villages, some of which are older than the wall itself, some bearing delightfully descriptive names such as Smash the Hu.  In the next section he relates his experiences as a part time residence in a village on the outskirts of Beijing, a village that in just a few years almost completely transforms and becomes part of the suburbs.  The final section relates the story of a small factory owner in one of the industrial districts, an area that was built and working before any infrastructure, such as roads or off ramps, had been completed. 

Hessler tells his story in part through Western eyes.  From that perspective, it is sometimes easy to laugh at the bizarreness of China--the wacky 50 yard driving test, the driving schools, the lack of off ramps on a freeway, the custom of negotiating payment for minor accidents there in the street.  It is also easy to condemn the environmental disaster that is China today, but is it really any different than the Industrial Revolution in the West? The US and Europe probably changed just as rapidly and as destructively. 

Hessler, a long time resident of China, is also able to give us the insider's viewpoint, telling the story of ordinary Chinese citizens who are working hard to get ahead even as the ground changes underneath them.  The way of life has shifted literally over night, leaving many physically behind in the villages as the young go forth to the cities.  The second section relates the story of a family running a small business to take advantage of the changes in their town.  Their child is born into the old ways, but being raised in the new.  It is a tale that makes it easy to condemn the West of today rather than China.

Hessler's ability to offer both perspectives absolutely mesmerized me.  He captured the contradictions, the insanity, the beauty that is China today.  Where is China going?  No one seems to know, the forces of change may beyond anyone's control.  It is going to be a fascinating journey, however, that, if nothing else, is crystal clear.