The New York Times reviews a new book about driving in China, and how the vastly expanding roadways are changing the Chinese way of life from the farms to the cities.
The book is "Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory", by Peter Hessler, a staff writer at The New Yorker. Though much of the book is plainly about driving and the quirks of the Chinese driving culture, the book also looks at the broader impact of car culture on the country.
"The big story Mr. Hessler has to tell in 'Country Driving' is about a country that's feverishly on the move. Speaking of the early years of the last decade, he writes, 'To drive across China was to find yourself in the middle of the largest migration in human history - nearly one-tenth of the population was on the road, finding new lives away from home.' His book chronicles the flight from rural China, and from farming and folkways, to new cities and their sprouting factories."
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