The Trouble With China: China since 1999, analysis based on four years in the Peoples' Republic

by Peter Mitchelmore

If you’re interested in world economics, politics, history, or culture, you’ll run into China before long. Today’s People’s Republic of China is built on millennia of history and continues to influence present-day events—but what is the real China?

The Trouble with China explores this highly complex nation and explains why and how it all fits together. Drawing on years spent in the People’s Republic coupled with deep analysis, Peter Mitchelmore offers a “street-level” view of China and its people as they really are. He delves into how China’s deeply rooted culture continues to shape modern history, covering key events like the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and ongoing issues with Hong Kong, while also sharing more personal insight into how real people in China live, love, and cope.

For anyone with an interest in China—academics, business people, citizens, and diaspora—The Trouble with China is for you. This book goes beyond the media headlines to show the everyday realities of Chinese people and the country’s surprising diversity, exploring China’s charms as well as its multi-faceted problems.

Genres: History

204 pages, Paperback

Published October 13, 2020

Reviews

[Anna Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Mitchelmore's book, "The Trouble with China," provides a keen observation about modern China and its people. He stayed in China from 1999 to 2003, the four formative years of what China is like today. During his stay, he witnessed many key events: China's being selected as the host of the 2008 Olympics boosted the nation's confidence; China's joining WTO enabled the nation's economy take off; In 1999 when he started teaching college, he noticed that many of the students had few changes of clothes and often wore the same thing; by the time he was about to leave China, he was offered one million RMB in exchange for marrying a woman who wanted to emigrate fast. Despite the astonishing speed at which the Chinese people amass a fortune, he notices that China and its people's mentality didn't change much over the years. According to him, the Chinese are "the friendliest and the rudest people in the world," a notion that he has a string of personal stories and observations to back up. He also notices that the Chinese people put too much emphasis on “face”, and often “face” gets in the way of progress and communication with each other. This is a fascinating book for me to read. As a Chinese immigrant born and brought up in Beijing, I agree with much of his description of the Chinese people's behavior and mentality. In the meantime, I feel a little sad that my fellow Chinese's problems were exposed for the world to see. This is not a book by a sinologist, but a book by a "skilled average person", as Peter Mitchelmore calls himself. For foreigners who want to travel to China, it provides advice which are more "street." I also recommend it to Chinese immigrants living in Western countries. This book is a mirror for us to reflect if we have brought the mentality of a typical Chinese to our adopted country.

[Anthony Stancomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful account of the author's few years in China when he goes there in 2003 to teach.
The book mainly consists of fascinating tales of the lives and problems as told to him by the people with whom he associates, and the rest of it is taken up with his own experiences of trying to fit in with the world he finds himself in - both in the colleges and outside teaching establishment - both the and those who inhabit it.
With a keen eye for the absurdities of life, he portrays a confused and paranoid people struggling to make sense of the society they live in and at the same time comply with government demands.
It's a pity he was not able to travel around the country and also that 2003 is now quite far away in terms of China today. Let us hope he is able to go back and spend another few more years there.
I have to say that the book could have done with a fierce editor to curb the unstructured and over-lengthy elements of the book, but despite that, the it is a book that should be given to anyone going to China.

[Positive Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it

This was a fun read. I feel I learned a great deal about this nation that I have heard so much about, but mainly by way of distrust of them. I guess it starts at home. If you have a nation of people who distrust one another, then clearly, that’s how the rest of the world will respond to them. Their activities in the Congo have me concerned, I must admit. Nice book.

[Irving Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic first-person look at a mysterious country that is wary of foreigners, and rules its population with an iron fist. I recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in learning about China. I found a great deal of inspiration in its pages as I wrote my second novel, which was based in China.

[Peter Mitchelmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a portrayal of the true nature of China which gets behind the headlines. Many domestic and international news sources only reveal a partial aspect of China and the Chinese population as it really is.
As China has often claimed, it has a history of 5000 years and is probably the world’s oldest nation. The culture has developed for many millennia, and has affected modern history as well as present day events.
The Trouble With China explains how it affects the present day, with a lot of analysis of the best-known recent events and how they affect present-day China which many are still curious about. The key events since the PRC’s founding are the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square massacre.
How have those events, and others, influenced aspects of modern China from the point of view of ordinary citizens? This is a question that is answered profoundly along with many explanations as to why.