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When A Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind -- Or Destroy It
As a young child, Jonathan Watts believed if everyone in China jumped at the same time, the earth would be shaken off its axis, annihilating mankind. Now, more than thirty years later, as a correspondent for The Guardian in Beijing, he has discovered it is not only foolish little boys who dread a planet-shaking leap by the world’s most populous nation.
When a Billion Chinese Jump is a road journey into the future of our species. Traveling from the mountains of Tibet to the deserts of Inner Mongolia via the Silk Road, tiger farms, cancer villages, weather-modifying bases, and eco-cities, Watts chronicles the environmental impact of economic growth with a series of gripping stories from the country on the front line of global development. He talks to nomads and philosophers, entrepreneurs and scientists, rural farmers and urban consumers, examining how individuals are trying to adapt to one of the most spectacular bursts of change in human history, then poses a question that will affect all of our lives: Can China find a new way forward or is this giant nation doomed to magnify the mistakes that have already taken humanity to the brink of disaster?
When a Billion Chinese Jump is a road journey into the future of our species. Traveling from the mountains of Tibet to the deserts of Inner Mongolia via the Silk Road, tiger farms, cancer villages, weather-modifying bases, and eco-cities, Watts chronicles the environmental impact of economic growth with a series of gripping stories from the country on the front line of global development. He talks to nomads and philosophers, entrepreneurs and scientists, rural farmers and urban consumers, examining how individuals are trying to adapt to one of the most spectacular bursts of change in human history, then poses a question that will affect all of our lives: Can China find a new way forward or is this giant nation doomed to magnify the mistakes that have already taken humanity to the brink of disaster?
499 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2010
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May 6, 2014
Watts' evocative title is taken from his childhood prayer begging god to prevent the Earth being shaken from its axis by the force of the world's largest population landing in concert. His book offers no prospect of avoiding an equivalent catastrophe for the biosphere; 'China has jumped' he states, and we must all rebalance our lives. Region by region, he examines the activities pushing China's ecosystems beyond their limits.
The global consequences are stark. The rich, minority world has exported dirty industries and actual waste to China, where an ever bigger mess has to be swept under an ever shrinking rug. Western governments have claimed carbon savings without counting the exported emissions. Watts' interviews with Chinese people in all sorts of social positions reveal a prevailing preoccupation with economic growth and increasing affluence. Often despite serious impacts on their lifestyles, environmental concern is worryingly far from most interviewees' minds.
Mao's Great Leap Forward, which instituted reckless hydro-engineering and foolhardy agricultural experiments, and caused a population explosion, is blamed for much of the 'develop now, clean up later' attitude, but Watts is quick to point out that Euro-American economies industrialised with as little thought for wider impacts, if not less.
Filthy coal power emissions and desertification are major problems, which impact strongly on what I find the most disturbing problem; increasing pressure on water resources. China's waterways are under stress and in many cases too polluted to use. Himalayan glaciers, which provide a steady supply for the lands below, are being steadily depleted. Talk of redirecting waterways from India to irrigate Northern China hint at major conflicts in the future. Both countries have areas of severe shortage. Watts points out that China is buying land in Africa to feed its citizens. Dark shadows of carbon wars hang in the future...
Watts searches hard for the seeds of hope, investigating China's much-vaunted green investments and conservation programs, finding many serious flaws. Throughout the book, he contrasts Confucianism, which focuses on human society, with Daoism, which focuses on harmony with nature. His conclusion draws on these roots: science must help, but it cannot be the solution. In China the limits to growth are being hit now. The global economy will have to restructure. In order for this to happen, Watts claims, there must be a shift from humanist Confucian to holistic Daoist values: a lesson from ancient and modern Chinese culture for people everywhere.
The global consequences are stark. The rich, minority world has exported dirty industries and actual waste to China, where an ever bigger mess has to be swept under an ever shrinking rug. Western governments have claimed carbon savings without counting the exported emissions. Watts' interviews with Chinese people in all sorts of social positions reveal a prevailing preoccupation with economic growth and increasing affluence. Often despite serious impacts on their lifestyles, environmental concern is worryingly far from most interviewees' minds.
Mao's Great Leap Forward, which instituted reckless hydro-engineering and foolhardy agricultural experiments, and caused a population explosion, is blamed for much of the 'develop now, clean up later' attitude, but Watts is quick to point out that Euro-American economies industrialised with as little thought for wider impacts, if not less.
Filthy coal power emissions and desertification are major problems, which impact strongly on what I find the most disturbing problem; increasing pressure on water resources. China's waterways are under stress and in many cases too polluted to use. Himalayan glaciers, which provide a steady supply for the lands below, are being steadily depleted. Talk of redirecting waterways from India to irrigate Northern China hint at major conflicts in the future. Both countries have areas of severe shortage. Watts points out that China is buying land in Africa to feed its citizens. Dark shadows of carbon wars hang in the future...
Watts searches hard for the seeds of hope, investigating China's much-vaunted green investments and conservation programs, finding many serious flaws. Throughout the book, he contrasts Confucianism, which focuses on human society, with Daoism, which focuses on harmony with nature. His conclusion draws on these roots: science must help, but it cannot be the solution. In China the limits to growth are being hit now. The global economy will have to restructure. In order for this to happen, Watts claims, there must be a shift from humanist Confucian to holistic Daoist values: a lesson from ancient and modern Chinese culture for people everywhere.
February 5, 2011
I decided to read this book because of it's interesting and catchy title. But unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the scariest and depressing books I've ever read. We all know about the booming Chinese economy, but using very convincing statistics, as well as personal histories Jonathan Watts demonstrates how this rapid economic boom is coming at a huge cost to the environment. He talks of the attempts China is making to "go green" but with a population of 1.4 billion all trying attain a higher standard of living based on the western models of consumption, Watts sees little chance of China being able to achieve these standards without further irrevocable damage to the environment. And what makes the book really scary is that with China making up 1/5 of the worlds population, if they totally destroy their environment, it's going to put the health of the entire planet in real jeopardy.
June 1, 2012
I didn't like this book at all, it just make me mad most of the time. It was full of scientific misinterpretations that lead to mischieving conclusions about environment in China.
I think what made me most mad was that, by the way it was written, it seemed like China was destroying the planet all by themselves by rising their living standards. But who is a European to critisize that, when we are the ones that actually set the living standard, to say that we can live like that but they cannot? Plus the fact that a graet part of the contamination produced in China is caused by our consumism in the "rich" part of the world.
I actually find admirable that they are already starting to raise an ecological and green perspective into it, when it took us more than a hundred years from our industrial revolution to the recognition that maybe wild development is not the best idea (and I am not sure we came completely into that realization yet). As a Chinese friend said to me once: Why do we keep trying to impose a system that does not work on them? And she has a point.
I think what made me most mad was that, by the way it was written, it seemed like China was destroying the planet all by themselves by rising their living standards. But who is a European to critisize that, when we are the ones that actually set the living standard, to say that we can live like that but they cannot? Plus the fact that a graet part of the contamination produced in China is caused by our consumism in the "rich" part of the world.
I actually find admirable that they are already starting to raise an ecological and green perspective into it, when it took us more than a hundred years from our industrial revolution to the recognition that maybe wild development is not the best idea (and I am not sure we came completely into that realization yet). As a Chinese friend said to me once: Why do we keep trying to impose a system that does not work on them? And she has a point.
June 12, 2015
Here Jonathan Watts offers a detailed summary by region of the effects China's large population, rapid development, and pollutant-intensive industries (of which North America and Europe have for the most part washed their hands) are having on the world's environment--particularly as far as species extinction, water scarcity, desertification, and global warming. He concludes that until grassroots movements reach a tipping point, progress is unlikely, since national policies often conflict (with the environment losing) or fail to be consistently enforced.
Interested in what's changed for better or worse in the five years since this was published.
Interested in what's changed for better or worse in the five years since this was published.
July 8, 2012
I don't know if I've read a book more well researched. Thorough and thoughtful, I found many of the chapters to provide a lot of good insight into China and some of its environmental problems.
I appreciated that Watts never vilified China or its people for its problems, never made China out to be the only problem in the world, nor made them the scapegoat for what is obviously the entire planet's problem.
If I have a complaint about the book, it's just that parts can be rather depressing. However, that's not something the author has any control over. It's a bummer of a topic.
I appreciated that Watts never vilified China or its people for its problems, never made China out to be the only problem in the world, nor made them the scapegoat for what is obviously the entire planet's problem.
If I have a complaint about the book, it's just that parts can be rather depressing. However, that's not something the author has any control over. It's a bummer of a topic.
June 10, 2019
This book is both dense and long, but a rewarding read. It's a well-researched and exhaustive journalistic view of environmentalism in China, traveling across the major provinces of China. Watts highlights the contradictions between quality of life and sustainability, conservation and capitalism, and short term vs long term growth while maintaining respect and empathy for the country and its people. This book opened my eyes to the extreme conditions in various parts of China like fishing using explosives / electric fishing in Hubei, the Plasma Economy in Henan, cloud hunting and rain making in Gansu, and melting glaciers in Xinjiang for water, to name a few.
While the content and state of the environment seem bleak, Watts tries to inject hope by highlighting ongoing efforts to improve the situation. He emphasizes how China could shift our current trajectory and focuses on what we can learn from China - since China has reached its environment limits sooner than most, it is an example of what could be to come and what we might do to avoid environmental disaster. "In the 19th century, Britain taught the world how to produce. In the twentieth, the US taught us how to consume. If China is to lead the world in the 21st century, it must teach us how to sustain."
Note: the first chapter on Shangri-la was slow and I almost gave up, but I'm glad I didn't as the subsequent chapters are great.
While the content and state of the environment seem bleak, Watts tries to inject hope by highlighting ongoing efforts to improve the situation. He emphasizes how China could shift our current trajectory and focuses on what we can learn from China - since China has reached its environment limits sooner than most, it is an example of what could be to come and what we might do to avoid environmental disaster. "In the 19th century, Britain taught the world how to produce. In the twentieth, the US taught us how to consume. If China is to lead the world in the 21st century, it must teach us how to sustain."
Note: the first chapter on Shangri-la was slow and I almost gave up, but I'm glad I didn't as the subsequent chapters are great.
January 31, 2015
There are hundreds of books about China in my office at the university. Some are fiction, most are nonfiction. With such a large selection, it has been difficult to choose what to read. In the beginning I stuck with travel memoirs, my genre of choice when traveling. However, the longer I stayed in China, the more I became interested in specific aspects of the culture and history – mostly having to do with the environment and the treatment of women. I have been wanting to write some reviews about these books for awhile in case any of you are interested in learning more about China, its issues, and its people.
First up is When a Billion Chinese Jump by Jonathan Watts. This book is dense and will take awhile to get through, but it is also fascinating. Watts had been working as an environmental reporter in Beijing for several years when he decided to explore different parts of China to see what was really going on in terms of environmental degradation. What he found is shocking – at least for those who have never been to China.
Watts not only talks about the toll on the land, water, and animals, but he also talks about the human toll. He talks about the get-rich-quick schemes that exist throughout China that allow a handful of people to become rich, while thousands of others end up in cancer villages or, even more shameful because it is so preventable, AIDS villages. He also describes the cash grabs and the obsession with status symbols that are far too common in China today. You will also read about what happens to our plastic bottles and our leftover electronics, not to mention where they come from. After having lived in China for a short time, I was not surprised to read about the corruption and the laissez-faire attitude of the Chinese government. The obsession with GDP and the lack of regard for their citizens is appalling at best. The thing to remember though, and Watts makes this clear throughout the book, is that what is happening in China today does not only effect China. It effects the entire world. If you are concerned about the environment and the future of our planet, I would highly recommend this book.
Note: I have read several reviews about this book on Amazon and many people have written that the author has too much of a doomsday approach and exaggerates the severity of the issue. I have lived in China for only 1.5 years, but I have traveled through much of the country and have seen first-hand just how bad the pollution and environmental problems are in some areas. Watts is very even-handed in his approach to writing about the issues facing China today, and I especially appreciate that he does not let the West off scot-free. He makes sure to point out how the West has a huge hand in what is happening in China (and other developing countries) today because we have cleaned up our own countries only by exporting our pollution to where our citizens will not see it.
First up is When a Billion Chinese Jump by Jonathan Watts. This book is dense and will take awhile to get through, but it is also fascinating. Watts had been working as an environmental reporter in Beijing for several years when he decided to explore different parts of China to see what was really going on in terms of environmental degradation. What he found is shocking – at least for those who have never been to China.
Watts not only talks about the toll on the land, water, and animals, but he also talks about the human toll. He talks about the get-rich-quick schemes that exist throughout China that allow a handful of people to become rich, while thousands of others end up in cancer villages or, even more shameful because it is so preventable, AIDS villages. He also describes the cash grabs and the obsession with status symbols that are far too common in China today. You will also read about what happens to our plastic bottles and our leftover electronics, not to mention where they come from. After having lived in China for a short time, I was not surprised to read about the corruption and the laissez-faire attitude of the Chinese government. The obsession with GDP and the lack of regard for their citizens is appalling at best. The thing to remember though, and Watts makes this clear throughout the book, is that what is happening in China today does not only effect China. It effects the entire world. If you are concerned about the environment and the future of our planet, I would highly recommend this book.
Note: I have read several reviews about this book on Amazon and many people have written that the author has too much of a doomsday approach and exaggerates the severity of the issue. I have lived in China for only 1.5 years, but I have traveled through much of the country and have seen first-hand just how bad the pollution and environmental problems are in some areas. Watts is very even-handed in his approach to writing about the issues facing China today, and I especially appreciate that he does not let the West off scot-free. He makes sure to point out how the West has a huge hand in what is happening in China (and other developing countries) today because we have cleaned up our own countries only by exporting our pollution to where our citizens will not see it.
January 24, 2011
Oh, boy - I almost didn't finish this book. Not because it wasn't a good book, but rather because I was feeling so despaired! The author took you on journeys around different regions in China and highlighted problems that each region was facing, mostly environmental. The issues included deforestation, drought, pollutions, and agricultural. The book flowed really well from one chapter to another, though it was hard to find many positive things. One thing that really stuck out in my mind was when he covered the topic of water pollutions. Watts wrote that the water quality was so poor that nasty scum would form on top of boiled water, and the people would just skim the scum off and drank the smelly water.
I think the issue is rather complex. It's hard to tell a developing country not to develop. When you're on the other side (e.g., developed-side), it's easier to say that you should put more emphasis on sustainability rather than ensuring that you can put food on the table consistently. In the land of plenty (e.g., US of A), you can't imagine a day with no food. China has face multiple famines; experiencing it once is already one too many. Priorities are quite different between societies. But as China becoming more developed and educated, people are paying more attention to sustainability. This is a good thing. The hope is that, as China continues to grow, it will also consider sustainability as a part of its economic development plan. When China sets its mind to something it just pushes forward. That's one thing about being a one-party nation! It will certainly be interesting which direction China choose to take, for whichever direction it is it certainly will impact the rest of the world.
I think the issue is rather complex. It's hard to tell a developing country not to develop. When you're on the other side (e.g., developed-side), it's easier to say that you should put more emphasis on sustainability rather than ensuring that you can put food on the table consistently. In the land of plenty (e.g., US of A), you can't imagine a day with no food. China has face multiple famines; experiencing it once is already one too many. Priorities are quite different between societies. But as China becoming more developed and educated, people are paying more attention to sustainability. This is a good thing. The hope is that, as China continues to grow, it will also consider sustainability as a part of its economic development plan. When China sets its mind to something it just pushes forward. That's one thing about being a one-party nation! It will certainly be interesting which direction China choose to take, for whichever direction it is it certainly will impact the rest of the world.
November 21, 2012
The section on Chinese workers sorting through the Western's world recycling stood out the most. It was depressing to find out that recycling materials make their way to China and that it is a horribly dangerous job sorting through these items. Is there any win to this situation?
The stories of the Chinese workers reminded me of Factory Girls by Leslie Chang. If you have a chance, read it and you'll never want to see a designer handbag again.
Overall, the book really made me wonder what the actual cost of products would be without government subsidies and if the cost of natural resources (like water use) was added into the cost.
The stories of the Chinese workers reminded me of Factory Girls by Leslie Chang. If you have a chance, read it and you'll never want to see a designer handbag again.
Overall, the book really made me wonder what the actual cost of products would be without government subsidies and if the cost of natural resources (like water use) was added into the cost.
November 22, 2011
A very disturbing and ultimately a very depressing review of the environmental mayhem underway as China industrializes at a frenzied pace. Like christian thought in the west, the Confucian mindset in China has people believing that man is the natural master of nature. The results of this mindset are catastrophic. A good part of this virulent industrialisation is of coursed fueled by the need to feed the demands of western consumers. Read it and weep.
April 8, 2015
Mental read. Watts goes to places we're never going to go. It's a travel book but through the lense of China being the factory/eco dumping ground of the world. Really, really opened my eyes reading this book. Unreal stuff. And it gets exciting too as he goes to places he's really not supposed to be. He's currently the Latin America correspondent for The Guardian now.
December 21, 2017
Could be highly recommended for those who are working in China or working with the Chinese. I borrowed this one for my husband actually. Lots of interesting information on history, geography and tourism. I didn't get to the part about industrialization or pollution. A good choice for a personal collection but didn't hold my interest long enough to read page by page.
Just not my cup of tea.
Just not my cup of tea.
February 20, 2018
Jonathan Watts does a great job exploring the depths of China's environmental policy/disaster/success. He is on the ground in China for his investigative style writing and he knows how to describe and explain his topic very well. If you are a sinophile, you will enjoy this book.
May 9, 2020
A fascinating insight into the variety of environmental problems facing China. The fact that it barely scratches the surface of these problems is a terrifying prospect. An extremely well written an educational book that I would highly recommend.
March 29, 2019
Still relevant after 9 years, although outdated of course. This travelogue cum environmental/political analysis is thoughtful and nuanced while exploring the vastness of China.
July 26, 2022
comprehensive doesn't even cut it. alarming stuff
August 29, 2022
Very well written! Sad reality with this country
June 29, 2011
Watts is an incredibly dogged reporter, putting himself in some politically risky situations and traveling to some of the most desolate places in northern and western China to paint a portrait of the country. When A Billion Chinese Jump should indeed "be compulsory reading for all," as the review on the cover states. For any businessperson who thinks "China is the present and the future," the book explains how much more complex (and ominous) the reality is.
The book's subtitle, "How China Will Save the World - or Destroy it," is misleading. For one, it makes the book sound as if it has a broader scope than it does. Watts's talent is for on-the-ground reporting, and while he does provide plenty of historical context, he does not spend much time discussing what China's activities mean for the world and vice versa. A limited amount of broader context could have been helpful.
Secondly, the subtitle is more hopeful than the book. Watts is about 80% pessimistic and 20% optimistic. He visits promising "eco-villages" that are incompetently run and crumbling around their few residents. He visits the northeastern city of Dalian, which has made great strides in cleaning up pollution and investing in cleaner energy, but in reality has just moved the dirtiest industry outside city limits and continues dumping solid waste into the ocean. He describes China's simultaneous lip service to green energy while continuing its commitment to coal for the next two decades. Perhaps his publisher pushed for some rays of sunshine, but Watts himself does not sound sanguine about the fate of China and the world.
Another aspect of WABCJ that kept it at four stars instead of five: Watts visits so many places in China and talks to so many people, it's hard to keep them straight. He'll often devote no more than a page on a city and his conversations with people there before hopping in a cab for another 1,000 km to the next locale. It can be exhausting to read, and I can only imagine how it was for him.
But the book is fascinating the whole way through. Watts explains how traditional Chinese medicine helped fuel the attitude that nature and wildlife are to be conquered and consumed rather than preserved. Hence the incredibly destructive Three Gorges Dam (plus thousands of other dams, some built on fault lines), the emphasis on destructive farming methods and the attempts at controlling the weather via cloud seeding and other methods.
Watts laments that China, much like the U.S. and other nations, is intent on expanding access to scarce resources rather than quelling demand for those resources. Is that possible? The authoritarian regime of Chairman Mao is gone, replaced by a decentralized government in which regional party bosses are beholden to local industry and couldn't care less about dictates from Beijing.
Like the U.S. and much of the West, China is addicted to growth and the consumerism that comes with it. Watts seems to realize that there is little hope of reversing course while there are still resources to consume and mouths to feed. His China travelogue is an excellent and scary picture of a country teetering on the brink.
The book's subtitle, "How China Will Save the World - or Destroy it," is misleading. For one, it makes the book sound as if it has a broader scope than it does. Watts's talent is for on-the-ground reporting, and while he does provide plenty of historical context, he does not spend much time discussing what China's activities mean for the world and vice versa. A limited amount of broader context could have been helpful.
Secondly, the subtitle is more hopeful than the book. Watts is about 80% pessimistic and 20% optimistic. He visits promising "eco-villages" that are incompetently run and crumbling around their few residents. He visits the northeastern city of Dalian, which has made great strides in cleaning up pollution and investing in cleaner energy, but in reality has just moved the dirtiest industry outside city limits and continues dumping solid waste into the ocean. He describes China's simultaneous lip service to green energy while continuing its commitment to coal for the next two decades. Perhaps his publisher pushed for some rays of sunshine, but Watts himself does not sound sanguine about the fate of China and the world.
Another aspect of WABCJ that kept it at four stars instead of five: Watts visits so many places in China and talks to so many people, it's hard to keep them straight. He'll often devote no more than a page on a city and his conversations with people there before hopping in a cab for another 1,000 km to the next locale. It can be exhausting to read, and I can only imagine how it was for him.
But the book is fascinating the whole way through. Watts explains how traditional Chinese medicine helped fuel the attitude that nature and wildlife are to be conquered and consumed rather than preserved. Hence the incredibly destructive Three Gorges Dam (plus thousands of other dams, some built on fault lines), the emphasis on destructive farming methods and the attempts at controlling the weather via cloud seeding and other methods.
Watts laments that China, much like the U.S. and other nations, is intent on expanding access to scarce resources rather than quelling demand for those resources. Is that possible? The authoritarian regime of Chairman Mao is gone, replaced by a decentralized government in which regional party bosses are beholden to local industry and couldn't care less about dictates from Beijing.
Like the U.S. and much of the West, China is addicted to growth and the consumerism that comes with it. Watts seems to realize that there is little hope of reversing course while there are still resources to consume and mouths to feed. His China travelogue is an excellent and scary picture of a country teetering on the brink.
March 29, 2012
Most countries around the world have issues and problems that are internal. What give Jonathan Watts the right to write and condemn China? You have to think positive and the approach you have done is completely opposite to "The Law of Attraction". Have you not read "The Secret"? Jonathan has the brain of a pea and could not see beyond the horizon.
There are environmental failures in countries like Japan, America, Australia and even in New Zealand, his home country.
The main reason is because he knows that China is an up and coming country, he wants to make a dollar or two by bringing attention to issues of none of his concern. The Chinese people are not voicing out, why is Jonathan a New Zealander minding other people's internal business?
Boy, look behind your backyard and try to bring out the shameful things that are happening in your own home. Is you home using anything none toxic to our environment? Do you use batteries, light bulbs and many others that are toxic and you dispose them off properly, Jonathan, you have invited and I have been to your home and it is a shame to say that your home looks like a pig style and you just throw whatever you do not need into the rubbish bin and you do not even recycle them properly! Shame on you!!!!
You have written from the beginning nothing but condemning such a powerful and prosperous nation. Do you know that the Chinese government is in the energy saving technology and renewable energy?
Get your facts right before you go round trying to condemn China. You only want to make that miserable buck! At least a beggar is more honourable than you.
There are environmental failures in countries like Japan, America, Australia and even in New Zealand, his home country.
The main reason is because he knows that China is an up and coming country, he wants to make a dollar or two by bringing attention to issues of none of his concern. The Chinese people are not voicing out, why is Jonathan a New Zealander minding other people's internal business?
Boy, look behind your backyard and try to bring out the shameful things that are happening in your own home. Is you home using anything none toxic to our environment? Do you use batteries, light bulbs and many others that are toxic and you dispose them off properly, Jonathan, you have invited and I have been to your home and it is a shame to say that your home looks like a pig style and you just throw whatever you do not need into the rubbish bin and you do not even recycle them properly! Shame on you!!!!
You have written from the beginning nothing but condemning such a powerful and prosperous nation. Do you know that the Chinese government is in the energy saving technology and renewable energy?
Get your facts right before you go round trying to condemn China. You only want to make that miserable buck! At least a beggar is more honourable than you.
December 25, 2011
With his witty title, "When a Billion Chinese Jump", Jonathan Watts uses his rather humorous childhood nightmare as launching pad to look at the consequences of China's emergence as a consumer power. The book is fast paced, and the Watts manages to find a broad range of topics and geographical contexts to avoid the trap of treating China as a hegemonic unit.
While the details and individual stories change, the underlying theme does not. Environmental degradation, overwhelming pollution and inability to change a worldwide culture of consumerism act as the recurring central problems. There is a nice balance in the book, where Watts give us a lens through China to see ourselves (the Western world) through the cheap factories with little regard for environmental protection, and my personal favorite - the horror of recycling dumping grounds.
There is a lot to like about this book, and to be fair the author tries to offer a ray of hope in his 'Grass Roots' and 'Peaking Man' chapters in particular. Good or bad, China is the future. Without a change of worldwide culture, the future will look a lot like the degraded river systems of China, over-used, poor in biodiversity, polluted and bleak.
While the details and individual stories change, the underlying theme does not. Environmental degradation, overwhelming pollution and inability to change a worldwide culture of consumerism act as the recurring central problems. There is a nice balance in the book, where Watts give us a lens through China to see ourselves (the Western world) through the cheap factories with little regard for environmental protection, and my personal favorite - the horror of recycling dumping grounds.
There is a lot to like about this book, and to be fair the author tries to offer a ray of hope in his 'Grass Roots' and 'Peaking Man' chapters in particular. Good or bad, China is the future. Without a change of worldwide culture, the future will look a lot like the degraded river systems of China, over-used, poor in biodiversity, polluted and bleak.
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August 11, 2011Jonathan Watts is an award-winning journalist and the UK Guardian's Asia environment correspondent. His book is a fascinating but horrifying account of the environmental consequences of China’s massive economic growth. While at times I found it really depressing, it’s also proved to be one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve ever read. “Each chapter covers a different region of China, and also a different issue: deforestation, pollution, erosion, conspicuous consumption, carbon emissions. It is at times a little terrifying, more often tragic - the price of China's industrial success is misery for millions of ordinary people. Watts puts this all in its historical context, from the peasant culture of rural China to Mao's 'Great Leap Forward', and teases out the cultural trends behind China's actions. He also sees China's role as crucial to the future of the planet.” The result is a book that at times I wished I wasn’t reading - but I’m really glad I did. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
March 11, 2011
Covers the full beadth of environmental issues, along with plenty of personal stories about the change that China has underwent. The industrialization of China is portrayed somewhat as a fast-forwarded version of the world's, the environmental mistakes made first, cleaned up/and pushed to different areas. Favourite quote, of Cindy Tai:
"My dream now is to cerate an organic farm. I would like to grow food, vegetables, to raise pigs and chickens. And to have a helicopter to drive me around because the traffic is so bad."
It seems, at least by this book, and Chinese culture has no inherent love of the wilds, viewing it simply as something to be controlled and exploited, which doesn't bode well for any change that isn't founded on economics alone. Couple this with the fact that they've already packed the petri dish full of people, their environment may soon appear to be just as a appealing.
"My dream now is to cerate an organic farm. I would like to grow food, vegetables, to raise pigs and chickens. And to have a helicopter to drive me around because the traffic is so bad."
It seems, at least by this book, and Chinese culture has no inherent love of the wilds, viewing it simply as something to be controlled and exploited, which doesn't bode well for any change that isn't founded on economics alone. Couple this with the fact that they've already packed the petri dish full of people, their environment may soon appear to be just as a appealing.
January 8, 2011
Sort of backed up what I knew in a general sense. Contained many details about the terrible damage to the environment and animals numbers that happened during the great leap forward, and the large scale development and pollution that has gone on over the last 20 years.
I get a sense that things are starting to turn around but there is stiil a massive way to go. Eg China has strong environment protection laws, but 90% are ignored.
The green developments appear small and or symbolic, outweighted by the ongoing developemts and continued growth in coal power and industry.
I get the sense that the real truth will become known in around 5 years time.
Hopefully China will make those Green Moon shots and help lead the way to a better world before it is too late. A lot of the Western world seems to be dragging their feet.
I get a sense that things are starting to turn around but there is stiil a massive way to go. Eg China has strong environment protection laws, but 90% are ignored.
The green developments appear small and or symbolic, outweighted by the ongoing developemts and continued growth in coal power and industry.
I get the sense that the real truth will become known in around 5 years time.
Hopefully China will make those Green Moon shots and help lead the way to a better world before it is too late. A lot of the Western world seems to be dragging their feet.
October 28, 2012
Kiinnostava lähinnä anekdoottien ja maan kuvaamisen vuoksi. Välillä tekstissä häiritsevää asenteellisuutta ja asenteita, jotka tuntuvat omituisilta. Esim. mitä ihmettä kirjoittaja tarkoittaa "Riippumatta siitä kuinka vähän todisteita on, ihmisillä on hyvä syy olla huolissaan" lausahduksella? Siellä täällä hän tuntuu tuovan esille far-out teorioita lähinnä sen vuoksi, koska ne sopivat hänen valitsemaansa juoneen. ..ja miten hitossa auringonvalosta ja hiilidioksidista muodostetaan vetyä? Tällaisista kummallisuuksista tulee minulle tunne, että kirjan faktoihin pitää suhtautua erityisen varovasti ja on parempi keskittyä lähinnä tunnelmoinaan kasvun haasteista ja muutoksen nopeudesta.
July 6, 2015
Wow how ginormously this book was researched! It's really comprehensive and covers all of China in my view. It's the only book I've read on the country and I'm so glad I read such an extensive work that covered all sides of it within one set of covers. There is: history, politics, religion, regular people and higher class, contruction and entertainment, rulers and the ones ruled and those damn projects, destroying those fields of flowers and ending rain as we know it, then creating rain out of nothingness, and never forget those plastic bags. We should stop using them as of right now.
I learned a great deal from this book, they should teach it in schools!
I learned a great deal from this book, they should teach it in schools!
May 2, 2011
If you want to be depressed,this book is for you! Watts takes you on a tour of all of the environmental and ecological disasters of developing China. Just when you think it can't get worse, it does. Each chapter gets progressively more depressing. I kept waiting for the "How China Will Save the World" part, but that part is compressed into ten short pages at the end of the book. The subtitle really should have been, "How China Will Destroy the World-- or Save it." Read at the peril of your happiness.
Currently reading
February 21, 2012I'm currently reading this book as part of a seminar on the Geography of China by The Jackson School, the Seattle Chinese Garden, and the East Asia Resource Center (EARC). Just one of many great resources they're already given me, I'm so far enjoying Watts' writing style. As a kid, his parents told him if all the Chinese decided to jump at the same time, they would tip the planet. This is a travelogue and a lesson primer on the state of environmental affairs in lots of places in China you've never heard of. Instructive and confounding.
February 2, 2014
Theme: Development and climate change as demonstrated so dramatically in China over the past decade or so, should waken us all to the need to re-examine our reliance on capitalist driven consumerist philosophy. The author, a Guardian newspaper journalist, travelled throughout China in the first decade of the 21st century. Describing his travels and the people he met, he looks at such as scarcity of clean water, monoculture issues, the loss of species, increasing pollution, etc. These problems are not just those of China alone, they are global, and the response needs to involve us all.
November 6, 2016
A truly remarkably inventory of environmental jeopardy in today's China.
Similar to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in its alarming description of what has already been lost or is seriously threatened as Watts (who covers China and environmental issues for the Manchester Guardian) takes us on a tour of nearly every province in China. This is essential but disturbing reading.
Similar to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in its alarming description of what has already been lost or is seriously threatened as Watts (who covers China and environmental issues for the Manchester Guardian) takes us on a tour of nearly every province in China. This is essential but disturbing reading.
February 19, 2011
Don't read this book if you don't want to be depressed about the state of the planet. As the subtitle indicates, there is a choice, but most of the book convinced me of the second option. It is hard not to be cynical after reading this, but it is definitely an eye opener.
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