Customer Reviews

A Billion to One: An American Insider in the New China

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It doesn't seem all that long ago that I learned that one of my favorite authors was headed for China to write another book. When he left, I signed up for his emails and not only read them all with great interest I felt compelled to forward them to many of my friends who read and enjoyed them as well. Now there are a group of us who will be reading and discussing Gene's observations and opinions in this long awaited book. Thanks to Gene for keeping us tuned into this important social dynamic!

I thought I know China very well since it is where I am from, but this book kept on supprising me. I enjoyed some daily life stories of the author experienced with modern Chinese and cannot help smilling or laughing at them. Some of the stories are quite common for western foreigners to encounter while living in China, which makes it valuable for people who wish to visit or work in China to prepare for its cultural transition. It is a very well-written book and worth to buy.

Want to know what the competition is up to? I loved Gene's dispatches from Harbin, welcome his pulling it all together in this book. Gene Ayres' astute, often humorous adventures and perceptions while teaching in a Chinese university are not only a delight to read, but offer a valuable perspective on the focus, intelligence, and hunger of the Chinese to be a major player in the 21st century world. It's like being there, in a China sometimes astonishingly modern, sometimes inscrutably ancient, without paying the airfare.

Before starting the book I wondered what it could offer that I hadn't already read, and I soon found out. Mr Ayres paints a compelling, personal and insightful picture of a complex country emerging. It is significant that his time was spent in the interior, away from usual coastal cities that are often chosen to represent China. The vignettes - many satisfying by themselves - weave together to leave an impression, rather than a narrative of China. He manages to inject history and travelogue in a nice, satisfying way. A very pleasant read.

Some of us have been there, maybe to the Olympics, maybe to negotiate a joint venture, maybe to a scientific conference. Most of us have read about the rise of China as an economic superpower capable of consistent growth rates of 10 percent -- give or take -- per year, year after year. Some have read about China as seen from a human rights perspective or a cultural perspective. Not so many have seen China as Gene Ayres has, from the perspective of a visiting English teacher, meeting ordinary college students (at least ones who want to learn conversational English. Getting to know them is a good way of getting to know China, from the bottom up.