Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China (Vintage) (Paperback)

by James Fallows (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Fallows (Blind into Baghdad) offers a candid outsiders take on contemporary China in this entertaining and richly illustrated investigation of what distinguishes China from other Asian nations and what causes the dissonance between how China sees itself and how it is viewed by the rest of the world, particularly the U.S. The authors range is admirably broad—he takes on Chinese reality television, school systems, incisive economic analysis—and uncovers a raft of surprising similarities between the East and West. Fallows compares Shenzhen—the manufacturing and migration capital of southern China—to New York, where once youve left the airport and stashed your suitcase, its difficult to tell if youre a tourist or a native. In the gambling mecca of Macau (whose revenues recently exceeded those of Las Vegas), the author finds strains of Atlantic City. What Fallows lacks in expertise, he makes up for in a truly global vision and a magicians chest of social, economic and political insight. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by John Pomfret People who write about China fall into two categories: the ones who like it simple -- China's going to take over the world, it's going to collapse, China is Bad!, China is Good! -- and the ones who revel in the mind-boggling variety of the place. For the most part, the conversation on China in this country is dominated by the simplifiers. Whether enthusiasts or bashers, they traffic in the same sound bytes -- that China, as opportunity or threat, is bigger than life. Veteran journalist and former U.S. News & World Report editor James Fallows moved to China in 2006 fully aware of the dangers of writing on China and fully committed to unpacking the complexity of the most populous nation on Earth. The result, "Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China," a collection of 13 essays, 12 of which were previously published in the Atlantic, is an attempt to wrest the American conversation about China away from the simplifiers. Underlying Fallows's work in China is a belief that if we don't get China right, we're in for serious problems. The U.S.-China relationship arguably could determine the future of the world. Our two countries stand Nos. 1 and 2 in CO2 production. Before the economic downturn, the United States and the People's Republic of China accounted for more than half the world's economic growth. After the crash, we're the only countries with truly huge stimulus packages. Although no apologist for China, Fallows is convinced that it's "a better country than its leaders and spokesmen make it seem, and those same leaders look more impressive on their home territory." His tone -- smooth, assiduously polite -- softens his contrarian bent. But from the start, he takes aim at some of the shibboleths that Western writers have advanced in recent years about China. First up is the notion that China's model of development -- an authoritarian political system combined with a semi-free economy -- will pose a challenge to Western liberal democracy. It's just not happening. China doesn't have a fixed model at all; the place is in almost constant flux. Second, and more timely, is the idea that China somehow could use the $1.4 trillion it holds in U.S. Treasury securities to blackmail Washington into doing its bidding. Fallows disagrees. Yes, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao recently announced he wanted Washington to guarantee China's return on its Treasuries. But that statement was directed more at China's domestic audience, worried about another bad Chinese investment. Fallows makes the point that the more China invests in the United States, the more it has a vested interest in U.S. prosperity. How about that $265 billion trade imbalance? Not such a bad thing either, Fallows says, arguing that the economic relationship has been very beneficial for the United States (cheaper stuff!) and definitely better than the one we have with our supposed ally, Japan, which for decades blocked U.S. products from its market and continues to make it difficult for foreigners to invest in its economy. China: just a source for cheap goods? No longer, Fallows says. It's China's speed -- in generating designs and figuring out efficient ways to produce -- that has turned it into a world-class economy. "People think China is cheap, but really, it's fast," he quotes one Western businessman as saying. Fallows doesn't confine his de-myth-ification to economics. Human rights? China's economic miracle doesn't justify everything the regime has done, especially its crushing of any challenge to one-party rule, he says, but yanking an estimated 200 million people out of poverty is no mean feat. For all the billions of dollars in aid doled out by the World Bank, Fallows writes, "the greatest good for the greatest number of the world's previously impoverished people in at least the last half century has been achieved in China." The environment? In a chapter that he gutsily titles "China's Silver Lining," Fallows challenges the generally accepted idea that China is a continent-size Superfund site. That piece follows the fortunes of a Chinese engineer who has built a better cement plant, one that pollutes less and generates electricity, to boot. "The world will have more time to work toward a solution," Fallows writes, "if it recognizes that its most populous nation is doing some things right." Fallows also delves into murky questions about China's collective psyche. He employs the story of an environmentally conscious air-conditioning magnate to challenge the notion that China's entrepreneurial class is fixated solely on making money. However, when he seeks to dispose of the idea that the Chinese have lost their way morally and spiritually, the do-gooders he profiles turn out to be Taiwanese, not mainlanders. There's a big difference between the two. And Fallows's argument is weakened in the process. Fallows does criticize China, especially for its ham-handed propaganda. It's an active participant in creating a false image for itself in the West, he says. Take, for example, the stunning Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in which thousands of performers danced, pounded drums and performed tai-chi in lockstep precision. That, Fallows argues, only "increased the impression that the country is one big supercoordinated hive." The reality, he said, "is much the reverse." When Fallows arrived in China, I'd recently left after six years as The Post's bureau chief in Beijing. The country he describes, however, feels fresh to me; comforting in some ways, worrying in others. That's partly because of Fallows's sharp eye, but it's also because China is changing so fast.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307456242
• ISBN-13: 978-0307456243
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and perceptive, January 11, 2009

By	P. Baker "Gadget Guy" (Solana Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

James Fallows does a masterful job of explaining the China that we rarely see on the evening news or read about in the daily newspaper. He provides insight into what things are really like in practical terms and with a human dimension. As a journalist and author in residence in China, he tells us why China is so important and tackles some interesting issues, everything from censorship to manufacturing. He's objective in both his praise and criticism, and, like his other books, it's hard to put down. As a person that develops products in China, I've never read a better explanation of how things work. One of the best books I've read on China in a long time.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Look Into Modern China, January 13, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

/Postcards from Tomorrow Square/ is a collection of essays originally published in The Atlantic Monthly. Fallows (Blind into Bagdad) spent two years living in China, immersing himself in the culture. These essays cover a range of topics, but all provide a deep insight into the changes and challenges facing China as it becomes a world power and the rest of the world in responding to those changes. The economic and political upheaval happening in China has ramifications beyond the borders, and the social and cultural changes will last for a generation or more. Fallows finds topics of interest in themselves (environmental pollution, Internet police) and ties them into larger cultural shifts, giving a different perspective of what is becoming the second (or third) world superpower. /Postcards/ is well written, interesting and fascinating. If you've enjoyed Thomas Freedman's /The World is Flat/, /Postcards from Tomorrow Square/ will be a welcome addition to your reading list.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, February 25, 2009

By	Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Fallows wrote these essays between the summers of 2006-2008 while living in China; he had also traveled there in 1986.

Clearly, Fallows is impressed with China - noting that Shanghai (in 2006) has five subway lines, with better features than anywhere in the U.S., and is supposed to have 13 lines by 2010. While quite concerned about its pollution, he also reports being impressed with the efforts underway to deal with the problem. Fallows finds China's efforts to limit Internet access somewhat puzzling - they are not that difficult to get around, but most don't bother.

China spends just over 3% of its GDP on education at all levels - about half as much as the average for developed countries. (Other sources estimate U.S. expenditures at about 8% of GDP.) Most of the money goes to the top ten schools.

Returnees from the U.S. bring not only their experience and learning, but a sense that bribery is wrong, support for open academic debate (even with one's elders), and techniques for funding start-ups.

Some economists believe letting the yuan's value rise sharply would drive down import costs (including energy), and not reduce experts much since many of its exports are no longer made in the U.S. or Europe.

Broad Air Conditioning corporation uses natural gas and lithium bromide - this creates little transmission line load (problematic in China), is more energy efficient (fewer energy conversions), and relies on natural gas in the summer when it is cheapest. Workers are paid about $175/month + room and board; typically off two days/month, and work up to 14 hours/day (about 336/month). Yet, Chinese workers have a great sense of hope and save about 50% of pay - something not possible with American minimum-wage workers.

There are no large companies in China - explanations offered include a lack of trust, and a tradition of family-owned enterprises. Supply-chain knowledge (where to get what) is regarded as a competitive secret.

Example of simple automation: Orders arriving from the U.S. via Internet, printed out with bar-codes, lights appearing above the appropriate "pick" box, and double-checking via reading product/part bar-codes. Only an estimated 3-4% of the final price stays in China.

Macau's economy has been growing recently at 20%/year, vs. an overall Chinese rate of 10%. It over took Las Vegas in 2006 - $7 billion vs. $6.5 billion. Macau taxes gambling at rates up to 40% - far above that in most U.S. states. Three-hundred million Americans spend about $50 billion/year gambling; within five hours of Macau are about 3 billion people who now spend only about $12 billion on gambling.

A respected Chinese university publishes a list of top research universities in the world - they see the U.S. as holding 8 of the top 10 positions (England the other two), 17 out of the top 20 (Japan holding the other position), and China with none of the top 100 spots. Chinese education pre-college is much more difficult than the U.S., and easier afterwards.

Families in western China (about 25% of total population) may exist on $10-15/month, and spend their entire lives within a 15-20 mile radius.

Bottom Line: Most Chinese are far better off than they were 20 years ago, and are optimistic about their future.