Winter Pasture: One Woman's Journey with China's Kazakh Herders

by Li Juan, Jack Hargreaves (Translator), Yan Yan (Translator)

Named one of The Washington Post's Best Travel Books of 2021. "Winter Pasture is Li Juan's crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir."—Smithsonian Magazine "Li Juan spent minus-20-degree nights with nomadic herders in the Chinese steppes. You’ll want to join her."—Laura Miller, Slate "Deeply moving...full of humor, introspection and glimpses into a vanishing lifestyle."—The New York Times Book Review Winner of the People's Literature Award, WINTER PASTURE has been a bestselling book in China for several years. Li Juan has been widely lauded in the international literary community for her unique contribution to the narrative non-fiction genre. WINTER PASTURE is her crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir.Li Juan and her mother own a small convenience store in the Altai Mountains in Northwestern China, where she writes about her life among grasslands and snowy peaks. To her neighbors' surprise, Li decides to join a family of Kazakh herders as they take their 30 boisterous camels, 500 sheep and over 100 cattle and horses to pasture for the winter. The so-called "winter pasture" occurs in a remote region that stretches from the Ulungur River to the Heavenly Mountains. As she journeys across the vast, seemingly endless sand dunes, she helps herd sheep, rides horses, chases after camels, builds an underground home using manure, gathers snow for water, and more. With a keen eye for the understated elegance of the natural world, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, Li vividly captures both the extraordinary hardships and the ordinary preoccupations of the day-to-day of the men and women struggling to get by in this desolate landscape. Her companions include Cuma, the often drunk but mostly responsible father; his teenage daughter, Kama, who feels the burden of the world on her shoulders and dreams of going to college; his reticent wife, a paragon of decorum against all odds, who is simply known as "sister-in-law."In bringing this faraway world to English language readers here for the first time, Li creates an intimate bond with the rugged people, the remote places and the nomadic lifestyle. In the signature style that made her an international sensation, Li Juan transcends the travel memoir genre to deliver an indelible and immersive reading experience on every page.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, China, Memoir, Nature, Asia, Animals

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author "join[s] a family of Kazakh herders as they take their 30 boisterous camels, 500 sheep and over 100 cattle and horses to pasture for the winter. The so-called "winter pasture" occurs in a remote region that stretches from the Ulungur River to the Heavenly Mountains." (from publisher summary)

This is a very detailed account of the difficulties and innovations surrounding taking animals to pasture for the winter in Kazakhstan. It was first published in China in 2012 and received awards, and is now translated into English. It's a bit sad because in 2012 the author said this nomadic move to different lands for the winter may not happen for much longer because of climate change effecting the amount of snow availability (essential for a water source!)

What do you eat if there's nothing to eat? It's fascinating. And what do you do all day long when it's way below freezing and you have no electricity? This book has some answers but I feel like it was twice as long as it needed to be, so I skimmed the second half.

Thanks to the publisher for providing access via Edelweiss. It came out February 23rd in the USA.

[Alesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Han Chinese woman in her 30's spends the winter with a group of Kazakh herders. This is her detailed memoir, a fascinating look at an almost-vanished way of life.

This is an ethnography of a single family living in a burrow, dug into the sands in the desert of Western China. We get to know Cuma, the husband, his wife and teenaged daughter, as Li Juan learns how to survive with them in the snowy wastes for five months. It's dark and very, very cold. The flocks (sheep, cattle, horses, camels) have to be taken out to feed at first light every day. The diet is unvaried. Because it's a drought year, there's not much snow to melt for water, so they hike for hours every day to fill big bags with snow. What could be so fascinating?

Well, Li Juan is a very insightful and respectful woman. She rarely bemoans her decision to live with the family. She keeps detailed notes and has a wonderfully self-deprecating tone. Her patience and ability to tolerate harsh circumstances are remarkable. And although she might make jokes about her Kazakh family, she never looks down on them or is a cultural snob.

* This is an excellent description of what it's like to live within another culture where you don't speak the language, and must try to get by with limited communication skills.

* You can't help but be amazed at the fortitude, perseverance, and toughness of the Kazakh herders. There's nothing much to do. They spend all day long out on a flat desert guarding and guiding animals. A rare luxury is a cell phone that can play music, or a TV they finally get to work with intermittent reception and shows they can't understand in Mandarin. Their clothes get so filthy that they become stiff, since there is so little water to wash with. The big entertainment is when another family stops by to visit.

* Yet somehow, Li Juan sees the beauty in their existence, and in the stark world around them. The book is packed with lengthy descriptions of the night sky, the grasses of the desert, the intricacies of herding different animals.

This book definitely causes you to consider First World Problems in a new light, and admire the resilience of "simpler" cultures. Many of its insights will remain with me for a long time. The book reminded me a lot of Peter Freuchen's "Book of the Eskimos" -- a similar set up, a similar respect for the grit it takes for nomads to survive.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy #WinterPasture #NetGalley.

[Kathy Boehm · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was Li Juan’s first hand account, translated from the original Chinese, of her journey from the Ulungur River to the Heavenly Mountains, in the company of three nomadic herders. Li was a single woman, so her mother made the arrangements for a Kazakh man named Cuma to host her. Cuma owed her family money. Li’s time with him, his wife, and daughter, would cancel that debt.

In spring, the herders moved north with the melting snow; in autumn, they were driven slowly back south. They were sometimes subjected to harsh, sub-zero degree weather. They collected snow for drinking, cooking, and limited bathing. They sewed their own patchwork clothing from hides, fur, and wool. When the herders rested, they lived in strategically located, mud-lined burrows, six feet underground, insulated with sheep dung. The herd consisted of 100 cows and horses, 30 camels, and 500 sheep.

Cuma and his wife and daughter were introduced early in the book, primarily within the context of their family. Later, each character was given his or her own chapter. By that time, though, the reader had already met them; the backtracking was distracting.

Several key premises were proven untrue as the story unfolded. Cuma was presented as a benevolent, hard working herder who loved the animals. But then he shockingly abused a kitten by slamming it to the ground, and later, nearly blinding it. In another scene, he sliced off the ear of a puppy. He was gradually unmasked as an abusive drinker, compulsive liar, ill-tempered bully, and a misogynist. Regardless, the author continued to praise his virtues. Li’s mother was at least aware of Cuma’s drinking; her judgment was questionable in entrusting her daughter to his care.

The herders were not as isolated and disconnected as imagined. They occasionally traveled by motorcycle, had cell phones with spotty reception, and enjoyed a serviceable television. Li and the family, living together under those conditions, would seem to bond over time. But in the end, there was no mutual affinity nor enjoyment in each other’s company. There was an extensive glossary of Chinese terms at the back of the book. The placement would be helpful for physical copies, but not for an e-book. The story rambled like the herders, with no particular plot, dramatic high points, nor character growth. The premise of a foreign adventure was a good one, but the execution was flawed.

I received an electronic advance reader copy from NetGalley in September 2020 in exchange for my honest review. Illustrations were missing. Publication date: February 23, 2021.

[Joy]

One of the first inklings of the issues that would permeate the book is in the translators' note. Yan Yan and J. Hargreaves explain to us readers the age-old Kazakh tradition of felt-based textiles and handicraft. This specialized craft is woven from sheep's wool to make into numerous everyday objects of use such as carpets, decorative wall hangings and rugs. However, they all have individual Kazakh names (which the translators kindly romanized to bring to us) and significance. The nagging question is why was it upon the translators and not the author Li Juan to explain this bit of cultural significance to us readers?

While I'm reading, I start to subconsciously pray 'please don't let this be another Ma Jian's Stick Out Your Tongue.' Well, it doesn't have the misogyny of SOYT (simply because author is a woman) but .... Both the Tibetan and Kazakh steppes and its people are somewhat shrouded in an aura of mystery, due to difficulty in access. Yet this centuries old way of life, cultural traditions, religions are so rich that a guest would feel honoured to be able to visit the area and treasure the experience. As for knowledge, I'm not expecting academic work on the level of an anthropologist or ethnographist but...

Li Juan cannot even tell us which area she actually visited. No Kazakh herder group wanted to bring her along (the reason given being she would be just a nuisance) but her family strongarms one family to into taking her along (this family owns her family money; guiding, feeding and housing her would write off their debt). Much is made of the fact that this will be the likely be the last time these nomadic herders do this cycle of herding and grazing, basically their way of life. The official reason is that it's due to overgrazing and there's government orders to relocate to a fixed settlement. But in a rather telling exchange that was innocently relayed by the author while discussing this development with a Kazakh trader, the Kazakh trader asked angrily, "Have we Kazakhs not suffered enough for you yet?" To be clear, the you is not referring to the individual or directed personally at Li Juan but a collective you as in you Han Chinese people. The oppressors. Li Juan also tells us about this long wall they encounter that the Chinese government has erected to restrict the movement of these herders. Keep in mind this area is Xinjiang.

Li Juan claims she made an effort to learn Kazakh but also lets slip that she wanted a herder group which could speak Mandarin. So the group's leader and Li Juan's female traveling handler are documented as speaking at least some Mandarin to her and she relays the mistakes they make. They graciously teach her the Kazakh names of household objects. I can't help feeling while reading that so much cultural context, even at a basic level, is not getting relayed. For example, these Kazakh herders are Muslim but this never gets mentioned except during the odd time when she hears one of them exclaiming 'Allah!'

All that stuff about sheep manure walls is entertaining but I think I'll wait for a book written by a Kazakh for accuracy and authenticity.

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Li Juan spent minus-20-degree nights with nomadic herders in the Chinese steppes. You will be glad you are reading about this adventure, rather than experiencing it.

The nomads live in yurts or burrows made from sheep dung. Their source of water is melted snow. Electricity is provided by solar batteries. Bathroom is outside.

Li Juan, so anxious to write a book, endures all these discomforts. She speaks Mandarin; her nomad family speaks Kazakh. The nomads she lived with thought she would be back home in a week. But she endured the whole winter and we share all of her experiences.

The book was written in 2010 and not translated to English until 2021. At the time of the book's writing, the Chinese government was planning to give subsidies to the herders to stop their winter sojourns to the desert. This way of life, very primitive indeed, is likely also history.

I felt there was something lacking in the translation. The prose was pretty basic and sometimes embarrassing. Who would write something like this? In describing the family patriarch, Cuma, she writes:
"Don’t let that pair of big hands deceive you, they could manipulate tiny objects with impressive
dexterity. He even used his fat finger to pick Baby Karlygash’s nose!"

I am still glad that I read it as I had no knowledge of 1) Kazakhs living in China and 2) the primitive nomadic lives they led while winter pasturing.

I read this very fine review of the book and wish to share it as well:

https://asianreviewofbooks.com/conten...

4 stars

[Chantal Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of all time is 'Wolf Totem' by Jiang Rong (a partly autobiographical account of the author's time with herders in Inner Mongolia), so I jumped at the chance to review a book that I expected to be similar in a lot of ways, although of course, the herders of 'Winter Pasture' are Kazakh rather than Mongolian.

Unfortunately, the author's delivery meant I felt a lot less engaged than I'd expected I would be. It's more or less in chronological order, but still manages to jump frenetically between different topics. It felt akin to trying to drive while a child yammers behind you for six hours about all the things they did at camp. Neither was my reader experience aided by the prodigious use of exclamation marks - I could've done with 95% fewer of those.

There are occasional sparks to the book - the author's prose could be strikingly beautiful, and from an anthropological point of view, the glimpse into the lives of the herders is comprehensive, detailed, and fascinating, from their relationships with their livestock to how they build their homes while on the herding routes. But the book is dearly in need of thorough editing - it's LONG. Ultimately, the book is neither profound enough, nor funny enough, and not as satisfying as I'd hoped it would be. Nor as memorable, I suspect.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review)

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2010, Li Juan, a Han Chinese writer living in the Xinjiang region of China just south of the Altai Mountains, journeys to the Winter Pasture with a family of Kazakh nomadic herders. The Winter Pasture is the herders’ desert land in the south, where less snow allows for better grazing. To protect against the bitter cold, they live in burrows six feet underground, with dried sheep manure for insulation.During the day, they range the flock of hundreds of cattle, sheep, several horses, and a variety of other miscellaneous livestock including surly and stubborn camels, and walk miles collecting snow in giant sacks to melt down for water. Li Juan pens a vivid, intimate, and at times humorous portrait of a dying lifestyle. The year she journeys with Cuma’s family is the last year they are allowed to herd that far south.
.
I was immediately captured by Li Juan’s narrative. She speaks Mandarin, while of her “host family” only Cuma and Kama speak her native language well, and Sister-in-Law with whom she spends many of her days speaks almost none; much of Li Juan’s observation reflects a curiosity to learn more about their lifestyle, but through the lens of limited language. Yet, some things like cooking and sharing meals, embroidering, saving the ailing lambs, chasing after the straying camels all transcend language. In short order, I became attached to Li Juan and Kama, imaging the vastness of their deserts as they collected their snow and hoped that they didn’t get lost due to lack of distinction in the landscape. The months in the Winter Pasture are hard, bleak, and frigid, but Li Juan conveys her experience with humor and keen insight.

Completed for 2021 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge read a non-European novel in translation.
Completed for 2021 Popsugar Challenge a book set entirely or mostly outdoors.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was really interesting overall. I learned a lot about a part of the world that I knew nothing about before and I’m really grateful to have found this book through Netgalley. The author’s accounts of life on the winter pasture were very charming and moving. It left me wanting more, and I will definitely research more about the lives of Kazakh herders in China. I wish that the translator’s note included a little bit of background for English-language readers on the relationship between Han Chinese and the ethnic minorities of China, like the Kazakhs. It would have helped me understand the context of the book better.
I loved the subject matter of the book and I wanted to give it five stars. However, there were a few complaints I had that brought it down to 4 stars:
The author talks about so many pictures that she took, but only includes a few of them in the book. Why mention photos that your readers can’t see? It’s frustrating.
The parts where a kitten was beaten and hit for literally no reason were very difficult to read. Very upsetting.
I wish it was written in chronological order. The random order of events and chapter subjects was a bit confusing and led to some events being mentioned three or more times throughout the book without sufficient explanation anywhere.

[Kee Onn · Rating 5 out of 5]

“无论如何，寒冷的日子总是意味着寒冷'正在过去'。”

“人之所以能够感到“幸福”，不是因为生活得舒适，而是因为生活得有希望。”

封面平平淡淡的《冬牧场》, 书页中藏着另一个世界，一个已经不再的生活模式。2010年的冬天，伊犁州的哈族带了数百的牛羊，珍贵的骆驼宝马，还有李娟 -- 最后一次向他们的冬牧场出发。住的地方叫冬窝子，在没路没水设的荒原地区中。就地取材、建筑材料是羊粪，燃料是羊粪，煮开的水也有羊粪。李娟的笔风清爽，把眼前的事儿一字一笔的记载下来，同住的居麻夫妇和女儿加玛也描述得栩栩如生。牧民艰苦的生活在书内没被浪漫化，也没从严寒中学到什么大道理、顶多一句感叹生命的坚强，或在考察哈族的习俗时领悟到內有乾坤。

In the winter of 2010, Li Juan accompanied a Kazakh herding family to their winter pastures in the Altai mountains far from civilization. With no roads or utilities, resourcefulness is the order of the day, with melting snow for drinking water, as well as using readily available sheep manure for cooking fuel and building their living quarters. The author writes humbly and unbiased by her worldview; she avoids romanticizing the grueling life of the herders, but instead tells her story by vividly describing her everyday life and the people she lived with. A keen observer, she finds inspiration in the tenacity of life, and the neighborhood camaraderie of the Kazakh herders - essential for surviving the perilous and lonely winter pastures. This book transports you back in time, as the practice of migrating to winter pastures has since been outlawed, and it so happened that the author participated in the final year the migration happened.

[Donia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to review. We readers don't know if government censorship altered some of the flow in the writing or if something was lost in the translation. I was very disappointed overall in the book. I traveled in this region many years ago and was hoping for more depth in this book. When I visited this region there were many restrictions in place when traveling from area to area. Rules seemed to change from group to group and day to day. The dialog changed, the habits changed. The habits change from region to region even among the same ethnic groups; throw in suspicion and who knows what was the reality. It is obvious that had some author sponsored say by National Geographic been the writer equipped with quality photographic devices along with robust funding this book might very well have been more appealing to the general reader. As it is, the book has tremendous voids which is a tragedy. Never the less, praise must be given to Li Juan for undertaking this project. There must be deep love of her surroundings to persevere as she did to produce even the product that we have here. As our planet shrinks with each passing year, the ways of nomads are being lost and will soon disappear all together.

[freya · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Li Juan details her experiences as a Han woman who decides to join a family of Kazakh herders for a winter. She offers a glimpse into the daily lives of nomadic people who live a lifestyle so radically different to my own. I am left to consider how it would be living a life so far removed from many modern amenities or conveniences — no running water, vegetables, little clothing, and unreliable technology. But even in such a sparsely populated region, the importance of having a relationship to guests and community members centred on care and reciprocity is paramount.

As this lifestyle rapidly disappears in the face of modernity, it seemed the families felt uncertain about whether they would be able to find more joy and stability in a modern, settled lifestyle or in their traditional way of life. As one horse trader says, “Of course settling is a good thing! But then Kazakh will be over!”. What does it mean to the Kazakhs to leave their traditional lifestyle for better education, more healthcare, and occasional Chinese television dramas? And how will they maintain their culture going forward?

[Jill Dobbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter Pasture is an insightful memoir about the author's adventures living and herding with the Kazakh herders. She journeys with the family to the remotest parts of the desert where she lives with them in an underground one-room burrow built with manure. Her days are spent herding camels, sheep, and cattle in the extreme cold, building pens for the animals, and gathering snow to be used for water. At times, Li Juan finds the nomadic lifestyle harsh, exhausting, and lonely.

The author writes with humor and honesty as she describes the family members and their little quirks, especially Cuma, the husband, father, and family drunk. She captures the natural beauty that exists all around her as she hikes the sand dunes and rides horses. The little known lifestyle of the Kazakh herders is slowly dying out, but the author gives tribute to the people and their way of life in this unique and captivating memoir.

Thank you Li Juan, publisher, and NetGalley.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointingly dull. The best thing about this book is its cover. The map is useless. The pictures are hazy, not sharp. The author writes about people and places and her taking pictures but omits the pictures. Annoying.

The author is an outsider, a Han Chinese woman, living with Kazakh herders. She tries to make herself useful and succeeds in integrating herself into the daily household chores in an austere environment. There are moments of beauty and introspection in the wilderness as she contemplates what is a vanishing way of life but they are too few. It’s mostly a tale of boring drudgery in a cold environment.

I can’t believe I didn’t abandon it. An ordeal to read.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a really tricky book to rate. Whilst the idea, recording a winter spent with Kazakh herders in Mongolia, interested me greatly, the execution felt quite poor. The prose is cumbersome, and whether this is a result of the translation, I'm unsure. There are so many repetitive elements too, and the author is repeatedly contradictory, which made this feel rather inauthentic.

[Phi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An invaluable account and so helpful for me since I read it to research about nomadic life in Northern and Central Asia. I read the original so I'm unsure of the inadequacy in translation. But to me a lot of it is just cultural discrepancies - so many people don't know the specific perspective possessed by a woman in her thirties living in north western rural China and made a fuss about it lmaoooo. The author definitely didn't write with a global audience in mind and I think that's nice.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting insight into two cultures I don't know that much about, in the narrator and the subject. This is a very casual slice-of-life sort of narrative, and the tone was sometimes a bit jarring, but overall that allowed me to feel familiar with an entire life. I ended up checking out the audio which, while not my favorite audio, was a better fit for how I wanted to explore this story.

[carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as interesting as I thought when I checked out
at the library. Lots of frozen manure and gathering snow for water.
Did not finish.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been so glad to have finished a book! Since starting this in January, I've gone back & forth to it, reading about a dozen books in between, & by the time I finally neared the end of this, I was so desperate to finally finish it that I could hardly stop myself from reading.

I certainly have mixed feelings on this but most of them are positive. Despite how long it took me to finish, it isn't always a slog; indeed, I was pretty gripped by it at the beginning & found it to be a surprising page turner. As time went on, it did become a little dull. I struggled to get through the center section where each "character" received their own chapter. I also struggled to follow the timeline as sections jump back & forth & overlap one another; I would have much preferred a linear story about her time with the herding families. I would have enjoyed a little more information about some things, like a deeper historical perspective, more information about the part of the world where they were, & more insights into what the families did during the warmer season, why their way of life was being threatened so sharply, etc. But I also realize this book wasn't really written specifically for western audiences necessarily & maybe there was an expectation that most readers would already have this information.

Overall, I did really enjoy this. Li Juan has a wonderful, playful voice. I'm always interested in learning about people in this part of the world & I feel like I learned a lot from this book. This book went deeper than a lot of documentaries do by giving us insights into the way people are, the expectations of them, the impact of their lifestyle on their bodies, the economics of their lives, etc. I was happy to learn about things other than tending animals, setting up domiciles, sewing clothes, etc., as is often the case with more surface-level explorations of this area of the world. The writing here can go from dry to playful to sublime in a matter of paragraphs. Especially in the first part of the book, I found myself underlining brief sentences all over the place that were beautifully universal in their observations. While some of the characters did engage in questionable things (like treatment of a kitten), it was important to me to remember that these weren't entirely characters of the author's invention but real people whose actions she was reporting on (albeit often with a little bias). I liked the inclusion of the author's photos & was often surprised that things looked so different from how I imagined. It was so interesting to hear about the things they do to try to keep their animals warm in the winter & while a lot of people seemed bored by the frequent mentions of gathering snow for water, I was really fascinated by that aspect of their lives.

So yeah, this took me about 3.5 months off & on to finish. The type was incredibly small & the pages were huge; at over 300 pages, this already felt long, but had the type been a little more "standard sized," I think this would have been even longer. I don't think anything would have been lost had most of the entire middle section been cut out (or at least folded into other sections so as to flow more cohesively). I do think it was a little dull at times & certainly repetitive. There was information lacking that I think would have been nice to know, but as I always say, it isn't really fair to expect a single book to be about everything, so. I've been wanting to read this since it came out so I'm glad that I finally did, but man am I glad it's finally over

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author and her mother live in a tiny village in northwestern China and run a shop. Li Juan is a published author, and a self-proclaimed oddball because she isn't married, she isn't employed, and isn't "proper." One winter, she decides she wants to write a book about spending the season with a herder family deep in the high, cold desert, and it transpires that one of the families owes her mother money, so to work off their debt they agree to take Li Juan along. And thus this glorious account of a winter spent with the Cuma family (Cuma, his wife, and their 19-year-old daughter Kama), was penned--and it is very hard to put down so set aside the time it deserves. We set off with Li Juan, after receiving a description of the warm clothing and gear she takes along, and the rest of the families, as they herd 30 camels, 500 sheep, and over a hundred cattle and horses to the winter pasture some three-days' journey away. When they arrive at the pasture they move into the burrow, a small underground enclosure that will be home for the duration. There aren't really any words to describe how absorbing and good this book is; Li Juan's writing is humorous, upfront, and matter-0f-fact--interspersed with genuinely pithy comments on the reality in which she finds herself. Utterly lonely landscapes, bitter cold, pens lined with manure for warmth, endless cups of tea, no privacy, all seem alien to us.

And on the altered concept of sustenance, she comments, "The power of food is that it does so much more than merely please the taste buds. The reason for our overly voracious appetites must be more than simply that life has gotten dull. I think all the creatures that live out in the wilderness feel the same way about food. Out in the wilderness, there are no outside powers coming to your rescue. The instinct to survive is so strong that we all live in a constant state of near insanity, an eternal emergency. Think about life in a city. Among the crowds, should life start to look hopeless, you can always reach out and beg, you can look for garbage in dumpsters. There, people always have a minimum level of guarantees, there is always the possibility of survival--out there, "living" is never the end goal, the end goal is to "live a better life." By contrast out here in the wilderness, humans can only rely on the plants and animals. Out here in the wilderness, there is no lucky break, not a single extra thing just sitting around. In short, I felt insecure Aside from eating like my life depended on it, everything else was out of my control. It was as if I only felt the confidence to face challenges when my belly was full to the point of bursting."

This is an incredible read about a vanishing lifestyle, told to us, cultural outsiders, from the point of view of a cultural outsider. Older teen, adult.

[MINAKSHI RAMJI · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fascinating insight into how pastoral nomadic herders live their lives in north west China. But there were huge gaps -- and I am not sure if this was because it was written in the context of the censorship in China or because cultural values really are that different. There just is not enough digging deep into anything really.

This is the last year -- the year this book is based in so more than a decade ago for us -- that Kazakh herders will be allowed to use these winter pastures -- from the following year there is land that has been set aside for them and they must give up their nomadic lifestyle. There is absolutely no discussion on whether this is good or bad, implications.There is just an acceptance and in fact, at one point there is even an implication that herders are not grateful enough for the compensation they receive. To be honest, the life that is portrayed is so harsh -- I don't know why I would want it to endure. But would have been good to see a discussion of this means in terms of the nomadic way of life, communal memories etc.

Secondly there are some absolutely bizarre scenes of animal cruelty -- which are just chaled down to well that's just how this one weird guy behaves. The animal in question is the family's pet cat/ dog - so its a bit unclear how the reader should respond.

There's one other thing -- the father of the family that the author spends the winter with is a boorish abusive irritating man. Yet he is also helpful to his neighbours, hardworking, and extremely handy. Just a classic prototype for toxic masculinity. The book makes it clear that he has many medical issues clearly the result of his harsh lifestyle - but its also clear to me that he has many mental issues. I expected more discussion of how he was such a complex person struggling to make the best of a difficult. life and yet there was no discussion.

[Dylan Kussman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Li Juan is an engaging writer and this book is nothing if not transportive -- I don't know how much more I could have felt like I was really "there". That said, as I approached the ending, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the structurelessness of the experience, unmoored from narrative structures that normally keep me pressed to the pages. Perhaps that was intentional -- one day on the Kazakh plains seeping into another, weeks, months a blur of camels, sheep, children, the hard, dirty work of cooking and cleaning and shepherding. But ultimately I could have used another guidepost or two, and with a book of this length and density (my eyeballs found to the typeset of the hardcover edition to be a touch on the compact side) I found myself questioning her decision to leave in several lines about the cat's diarrhetic episode. Every tidbit makes up the author's experience, but perhaps the editor in her could have fought for the reader's experience a little bit harder. Ultimately I'm glad I read this (been wanting to ever since I heard about it) and I recommend it as a lengthy read during the cold season, but don't be in a rush.

[Ula Tardigrade · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfect book for city-dwellers who romanticize a simple, rural lifestyle and dream about leaving all behind and starting sheep herding. After reading 'Winter Pasture' they would rather abandon such an idea... The life of modern nomads is harsh, dirty, and brutal. I was particularly stricken by their attitude towards animals - stricken but not surprised, as I have no illusions about the reality of the traditional animal husbandry. You won’t find isolation and solitude, either, despite so low population density of these desert plains, because you live in tight confinement of a burrow dug into the ground with the whole family.

It is a very original, strange, beautifully written book, filled with melancholy. It certainly gives an extraordinary insight into an alien, disappearing way of life, but it was hard for me to find some kind of connection with the author. Maybe it's a cultural thing but her self-abasing attitude was sometimes a bit disconcerting.

Thanks to the publisher, Astra Publishing House, and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

[Keenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warning, some animal abuse occurs in the middle of the book.

Li Juan, a woman fascinated by the lifestyle of herders in the dunes and drifts west of her town in Xinjiang, opts to spend the winter living with a family she's acquainted with. While no towering feat of travel writing and bordering more on a diary compilation than anything, Winter Pasture is incredibly sincere about the challenges and joys and difficulties that come with a lifestyle so dominated by the whims of the elements and the health of one's herd. She gets to know the family on a very intimate level, sharing cramped living quarters for many months, and the book shines best in the mini autobiographies she gives for each family member, domestic pet, and nearby (meaning less than half an hour away by horseback) neighbour. Overall I enjoy travel books with more historical context tacked on but this book has its own strengths.

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull. The book can be summed up in the words of the author:

Had I been a competent official, observing life in the wilderness, I would have asked in a politely patronizing tone, "What is your name? How old are you? Is your home far from here? What is your business in the area?" But I was too lazy to bother with all that.

Wasn't the entire point of the book to "observe life in the wilderness"? It's just a mangled and out of order retelling of the author's time in the pasture. Hardly any history/research or observations outside her own small world and even then it was entirely superficial.

The only positive I found was learning a little bit about how the herders live and what they go through. Beyond that, it was a waste.

[Marisa Crowley · Rating 1 out of 5]

A superficial ethnography with far too many exclamation points

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A woman lives with Kazakh sheep herders to experience a vanishing way of life. It was dirty and cold and monotonous. None of their children wanted to continue but the parents loved it. Also, horrible diets of no vegetables, just meat and flour products. Couldn’t they take vitamins at least?

[Gretchen Lida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Link below to my full review.
http://www.washingtonindependentrevie...

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway from Astra Publishing House. An interesting glimpse into the life of a family of semi-nomadic Kazakh herders, their neighbors (if you can call them that, living in an area near the Altai Mountains with a population density of 1.5 people every square mile), and the author, a Han woman who has joined the family for a single season of herding on the family's traditional winter pasture lands. Along the way, the author describes various trials and tribulations of life in the vast desert - the Kazakh/Mandarin language barrier, the ever-encroaching presence of modern technology into traditional ways of life, the importance of hard work to earn a basic living, and all of the various uses for sheep manure. I also found the English translation from Mandarin to be smooth and with minimal loss of meaning. Would recommend!

[Johanna Lingk · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I read and completed any nonfiction, let alone something that's been translated from another language.

It's not something that is a page turned per se, but still an interesting look into a VERY different life compared took ours.

[Ruby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting material, but jumped all over the place (same story told with different bits multiple times) and just generally didn't have a sense of coherency. Language barriers (both from me reading the translation) and from the author (who didn't speak the Kazakh, the native language of the herders) I limited the depth of engagement with the herders' lives.