The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China

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Synopsis
'A unique, kaleidoscopic view of Chinese society ... A must read' Qiu Xiaolong, author of Shanghai RedemptionAs any traveller knows, the best and most honest conversations take place during car rides. So when journalist Frank Langfitt wanted to learn more about the real China, he started driving a cab - and discovered a country amid seismic political and economic change.The Chinese economic boom, with its impact on the environment, global trade, and the tech industry, has been one of the most important stories of the twenty-first century. Yet few realise that the boom is largely over, and that the new reality in China is unequal growth, political anxiety and a newly empowered strongman president in Xi Jingping.In order to understand this new world, Frank Langfitt offered the citizens of Shanghai a simple deal: a conversation in exchange for a free taxi ride. Rides turned into follow-up interviews, shared meals and even a wedding invitation. In this adventurous book, we get to know an array of quirky yet representative characters like Beer Horse, the pushy dealer who sells Langfitt his used car; Rocky, a stylishly dressed migrant worker who loves John Denver music; and Xiao Chen, who moved his family to Hawaii to escape China's oppressive education system but was unable to get out of the country himself.Unfolding over the course of several years, The Shanghai Free Taxi is a sensitive and eye-opening book about a rapidly changing country.'Langfitt excels at humanising a country increasingly presented in purely oppositional terms [and] achieves a breadth rarely found in journalistic accounts' Financial Times
Copyright:
2019

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
320 Pages
ISBN-13:
9781474612340
Related ISBNs:
9781474612319
Publisher:
Orion
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Frank Langfitt
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Travel, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Politics and Government
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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