“But there were reports that Jiang and other members of the Old Guard were resisting retirement, and experts said that the Beidaihe meetings would be the first battleground of the political transition. Communist China had never had an orderly succession—for… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“The Chinese people had invented the compass, paper, the printing press, gunpowder, the seismograph, the crossbow, and the umbrella; they had sailed to Africa… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“I realized that as a thinking person his advantage lay precisely in his lack of formal education. Nobody told him what to think, and… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“People with good memories are liable to be crushed by the weight of their suffering. Only those with bad memories, the fittest to survive,… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“The decorating scheme of Big World is simple in theme but complicated in execution. The theme is: things that shine and things that make… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“When Chen Meizi had chosen her specialty, she didn't expect to find a job that matched her abilities; she expected to find new abilities… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“In China, the transition has been to abrupt that many traffic patterns come directly from pedestrian life - people drive the way they walk.… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“Whenever somebody turned his head, he shouted, "Stop looking behind you!: There was a strict rule against head turns. When reversing, you were supposed… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
Sometimes I thought of the Peace Corps as a reverse refugee organization, displacing all of us lost Midwesterners, and it was probably the only… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“In 1923, National Geographic Magazine claimed that the Great Wall is visible to the human eye from the moon. (In truth, nobody on the… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“Sometimes they seemed to grasp instinctively at the worst of both worlds: the worst modern habits, the worst traditional beliefs.” — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“When you live in China as a foreigner, there are two critical moments of recognition. The first comes immediately upon arrival, when you are… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
“I like to play chess. I moved to a small town, and nobody played chess there, but one guy challenged me to checkers. I… — Peter Hessler Copy Share Image
