John Grant Ross

You Don't Know China

Twenty-two Enduring Myths Debunked

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

You Don't Know China takes a wrecking ball to misconceptions old and new. Each of the twenty-two chapters debunks a particular myth on topics ranging from history and economics to language and food. Learn the truth about feng shui and Chinese medicine. Find out whether Marco Polo really went to China. Does the Great Wall actually deserve its name? Is studying Mandarin worth the effort? Should smartphone owners lose sleep over suicides at Chinese factories? Informative, entertaining, and sometimes controversial, You Don't Know China is a welcome antidote to the schizophrenic hyperbole surrounding China's supposed rise to global supremacy or, conversely, its imminent collapse. John Ross, author of Formosan Odyssey, gives the general reader access to information from specialist sources and insider knowledge from long experience on the ground. The format of self-contained chapters allows for both breadth and depth, helping to make sense of a complex subject. An important theme running through the book is the myth of Chinese exceptionalism - the idea that China is uniquely unique. This belief, held by both Chinese and non-Chinese, is dangerous, especially when coupled with China's historical grievances (which are based on myths that Ross also debunks). You Don't Know China is an amusing, eye-opening, and ultimately uplifting shortcut to understanding this complicated country. Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in China, it's especially invaluable for businessmen not wanting to lose their shirts, or journalists looking to avoid embarrassing themselves.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Camphor Press Ltd
• Seitenzahl: 196
• Erscheinungstermin: 14. Oktober 2019
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 222mm x 145mm x 14mm
• Gewicht: 399g
• ISBN-13: 9781788691710
• ISBN-10: 1788691717
• Artikelnr.: 58036075

Autorenporträt

New Zealander John Ross has spent most of the past thirty years living in and writing about Asia. His extensive travels - undertaken alone and far off the beaten track - include exploration in Papua New Guinea, dispatches from the Karen insurgency in Burma, and searches in the Gobi Desert and Altai Mountains on the trail of an ancient Mongolian myth. Ross lives in a small town in southern Taiwan with his Taiwanese wife. His books include Formosan Odyssey and You Don't Know China. When not writing, reading, or lusting over maps, he can be found on the family farm slashing jungle undergrowth (and having a sly drink).