What the Chinese Don't Eat [Import] [Paperback]

Xinran Xinran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2006

Xinran has been writing about China in her weekly column in the Guardian since 2003. This is a collection of those pieces that provides a unique perspective on the connection and differences between the lives of British and Chinese people today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Xinran was born in Beijing in 1958 and was a successful journalist and radio presenter in China. In 1997 she moved to London, where she began work on her seminal book about Chinese women's lives, The Good Women of China, which has become an international bestseller. Her most recent book is Sky Burial.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 009950152X
• ISBN-13: 978-0099501527
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,472,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Look at Chinese Culture, August 25, 2008

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Y. Mercedes Scott "book munchies" (Punta Gorda, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What the Chinese Don't Eat (Paperback)

This book is filled with powerful short essays about Chinese culture, written for Chinese people and previously published in Chinese newspaper. The author does not pretend to be an expert, but discovers, as the reader does, what it means to be Chinese in a changing world. An interesting book for anyone who is curious about the Chinese.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Xinran's inner life, September 5, 2008

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Nick Morgan (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: What the Chinese Don't Eat (Paperback)

Xinran's classic, The Good Women of China, established her as a spokesperson for the hitherto largely voiceless and forgotten women of the Red Guard, one child era, who sacrificed enormously on behalf of their families and their country. The book is heartbreakingly beautiful. The current volume is a collection of newspaper articles Xinran wrote for the Guardian, a British paper. It shows a much more personal side of the author, and will be welcome reading for anyone who was captivated by her earlier work.

3.0 out of 5 stars entertaining anecdotes but don't expect deep insights, January 21, 2012

By 

Carno Polo "adventure traveler" (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What the Chinese Don't Eat (Paperback)

This is an entertaining collection of articles the author wrote for "The Guardian" newspaper between 2003 and 2005. Letters from readers provide her with the opportunity to talk about the experience of a Chinese journalist moving to London, and her adjustment to a new reality there after her move in 1997. She also writes about how she found China has changed when she returns there years later.

All in all an interesting and easy reading, but not a deep one or particularly enlightening one. I am always skeptical of books made up of collected newspaper articles, and this one confirms my view that it is now always an idea that works well. Still, There are a few anecdotes here and there that make the book worth reading.