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Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler

I picked Country Driving up at the library knowing that his earlier book, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, was quite entertaining and informative. This book is actually 3 stories: one of a road trip across a lightly populated part of China, the second in a rural village outside of Bejing where he leased a rural get-away-from-the-big-city home for several years, and the third is of the growth of a manufacturing area in China. He entwines his own personal experiences with the history and people of the area.

At one point in the second story, Hessler wonders how anyone could make sense of that world he was living in. It is quite amazing. The book is full of interesting anecdotes, starting with his experiences with the Chinese driving test. At times this book is amusing and at other times more serious. I still am quite amazed that the Chinese can live in the convoluted way that they seem to do and still get things done. I gave it 4 stars.