River Town Two Years On The Yangtze Chapter Summary

In his memoir River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, Peter Hessler explains his time teaching English in the town Fuling. However, he paints a portrait of China that defies the preconceptions that a Westerner would have. Furthermore, while doing so, he discusses all the personal challenges and experiences that one would have in being a westerner in China at the time period. Ultimately, however, the value of his book comes from the image that he paints, which shows a side of the country that many do not know. One of the strengths of the novel is how it parallels his own journey living in Fuling. When the memoir begins, he has very little knowledge of Chinese and knows almost no one in the town. As he continues, however, he begins to learn more Chinese, and even some of the local dialect. The reader then sees his knowledge of Chinese growing. For instance, in the beginning he mentions a sign on a trail that he routinely ran on. At first, he can barely read the sign. Later on, he revisits the same site, and has the ability to read the sign completely. Due to this parallelism, the reader almost feels as if they, too, are learning. Another strength in his writing is

Instead of talking about traveling in one of the big cities like Shanghai or Beijing, he discusses life in a relatively small area. By doing so, he creates a picture that may not be what people know. For instance, he describes the life and struggle of the various farmers that live near Fuling, as well as the “stick-stick soldiers” who act as porters. Additionally, he describes their hopes and dreams of the future. For example, one man he talked to wished to eventually have his own car, which would be a luxury in that part of the country. That is just one example of the many other people who wished to own similar items, including cell phones, beepers and videodisc