A Nigerian freelance journalist gets invited to spend ten months in China by the Chinese government. Written as a letter to a best friend, this is the story of his sojourn while travelling across the country and living in the capital city, Beijing.
The author, employing similar journalistic style of greats like Hunter S. Thompson, chronicles a 10-month experience of living in China, as a young Nigerian. He blends his first-timer fascination with beautiful descriptions of the Asian giant across its many progressive and contradictory wonders.
Solomon is a gifted writer. His writing, devoid of writerly pretensions, oozes such elegance and clarity that turns the reader into a fellow traveler. (His scenic description of China matches those portrayed by CCTV).
Most impressively, he dwells much on his human connections, portraying universal cordiality alongside Chinese peculiarity. Solomon, understanding the importance of tolerance and armed with journalistic sensibilities, navigates through contentious and charming human contacts with such tact.
Solomon Elusoji takes on this seemingly impenetrable fortress in Travelling with Big Brother, which is both a travelogue and a commentary on China-Africa Relations. It is a robustly engaging book on the history of China and the outstanding civilization restored and managed by the Communist government of China. Elusoji visits Hainan, Hubei, Wuhan, Yibin, Zuhai, Shenzhen, Zhonglio Village, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, taking in the sights and sounds, the unique culture, and the socioeconomic transformation of these cities. Elusoji comes in contact with the prolific grasp of the Chinese leaders to control, manage, close, blacken out cities – like they did in Wuhan, when faced with COVID-19 – and the capacity for its leaders to rejuvenate, revamp and create functional societies who cherish their unique identities and thrive in competitive growth.