Peter Hessler

“The Chinese people had invented the compass, paper, the printing press, gunpowder, the seismograph, the crossbow, and the umbrella; they had sailed…

— Peter Hessler

“I realized that as a thinking person his advantage lay precisely in his lack of formal education. Nobody told him what to…

— Peter Hessler

“People with good memories are liable to be crushed by the weight of their suffering. Only those with bad memories, the fittest…

— Peter Hessler

“The decorating scheme of Big World is simple in theme but complicated in execution. The theme is: things that shine and things…

— Peter Hessler

“When Chen Meizi had chosen her specialty, she didn't expect to find a job that matched her abilities; she expected to find…

— Peter Hessler

“In China, the transition has been to abrupt that many traffic patterns come directly from pedestrian life - people drive the way…

— Peter Hessler

“Whenever somebody turned his head, he shouted, "Stop looking behind you!: There was a strict rule against head turns. When reversing, you…

— Peter Hessler

Sometimes I thought of the Peace Corps as a reverse refugee organization, displacing all of us lost Midwesterners, and it was probably…

— Peter Hessler

“In 1923, National Geographic Magazine claimed that the Great Wall is visible to the human eye from the moon. (In truth, nobody…

— Peter Hessler

“Sometimes they seemed to grasp instinctively at the worst of both worlds: the worst modern habits, the worst traditional beliefs.”

— Peter Hessler

“When you live in China as a foreigner, there are two critical moments of recognition. The first comes immediately upon arrival, when…

— Peter Hessler

“I like to play chess. I moved to a small town, and nobody played chess there, but one guy challenged me to…

— Peter Hessler

“Beijing maps featured cloverleaf exchanges that could have been designed by M. C. Escher.”

— Peter Hessler

In China, much of life involves skirting regulations, and one of the basic truths is that forgiveness comes easier than permission.

— Peter Hessler

“I looked at the terraced hills and noticed how the people had changed the earth, taming it into dizzying staircases of rice…

— Peter Hessler

The American appetite for loneliness impressed me, and there was something about this solitude that freed conversation. One night at a bar,…

— Peter Hessler

“Every always says that their product is the best," said Mr.Wang. "They have to talk about how much better they are than…

— Peter Hessler

I began to see motorcyclists who had attached computer discs to their back mudflaps, because they made good reflectors. In a place…

— Peter Hessler

“But there were reports that Jiang and other members of the Old Guard were resisting retirement, and experts said that the Beidaihe…

— Peter Hessler

“For a Politeness Monitor, these responses seemed awfully terse and uncommunicative, but who was I to judge?”

— Peter Hessler

Alan Paul plunges into Chinese life and takes us along for the ride, through vegetable markets, used-car lots, Taoist temples, divey bars,…

— Peter Hessler

“Nevertheless, Chinese drivers haven't grasped the subtleties of headlight use. Most people keep their lights off until it's pitch-dark, and then they…

— Peter Hessler

“The joy of nonfiction is searching for balance between storytelling and reporting, finding a way to be both loquacious and observant.”

— Peter Hessler

“That's the underlying philosophy of Chinese driving courses: if something is technically difficult, then in must be useful.”

— peter hessler

“The salesman told Anna that it was pointless to try to rip off his customers, because of everything a Sichuanese person must…

— Peter Hessler