Country Driving
Page 49
“The Chinese Automobile Driver’s Book of Maps”:
Zhongguo Qiche Siji Dituce. Beijing: Zhongguo Ditu Chubanshe [Sinomaps], 2001.
By 1931, more than two dozen places: For background on how the Chinese converted ancient city walls into roads:
Campanella, Thomas J. “‘The Civilising Road’: American Influence on the Development of Highways and Motoring in China, 1900–1949.” The Journal of Transport History 26, no. 1 (March 2005): pp. 78–98.
modernizers turned their attention to the Great Wall: For the Chinese plan to convert the Great Wall into a highway:
Lei Sheng. “Changcheng Zhu Lu Zhi Feiwu Liyong” [Using Waste Material to Build a Road on the Great Wall]. Shenbao Qiche Zengkan [Shenbao Automobile Supplement] 76 (May 12, 1923): pp. 2–3.
Liu Huru. “Changcheng” [Great Wall]. Xuesheng Zazhi [Students’ Magazine] 18, no. 3 (March 1931): pp. 75–76.
the Ming dynasty avoided building the Great Wall: For the influence of feng shui beliefs on wall construction near the Ming tombs:
Hong Feng. “Longquan Yu Zhi Shifo Si Duan Bian Chengyin Tijie” [Notes on Contributing Factors to the Lack of Great Wall From Longquan Valley to Stone Buddha Temple]. Zhongguo Changcheng Bowuguan [China Great Wall Museum] 21, no. 1 (2006): pp. 52–63.
The first major construction campaign: For the history of the American Red Cross road-building campaign, see the article by Thomas J. Campanella: Ibid.
similar to the United States in 1911: According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there were 9,939,600 passenger vehicles in 2001; this figure includes cars and buses, but not trucks. According to The Statistical History of the United States, there were 618,727 registered automobiles in 1911, for a ratio of 152 people for every car. By 1912, it had dropped to 106. (There were no registered buses at that time.)
there isn’t a single scholar at any university in the world who specializes in the Great Wall: Arthur Waldron, now at the University of Pennsylvania, researched the Great Wall during the early part of his career, but he has since moved to other subjects. Julia Lovell at Cambridge University published The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000 BC–AD 2000, a broad historical survey that describes, in part, cultural interpretations of the wall. Apart from that project, Lovell has not specialized in the Great Wall.
In the eighteenth century, Western explorers and missionaries: For background on Western confusion about the history of the Great Wall:
Waldron, Arthur. The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
claimed that the Great Wall is visible to the human eye from the moon:
Warwick, Adam. “A Thousand Miles Along the Great Wall of China.” National Geographic XLII, no. 2 (February 1923): pp. 114–43.
China had about one-fifth: The figures in this paragraph come from the National Bureau of Statistics.
use of headlights was banned:
United Press International. “Light in China.” January 4, 1984.
“They come like hurricanes: This quotation is from Han Anguo, the minister of censorship in 134 BC. It can be found in:
Jagchid, Sechin, and Van Jay Symons. Peace, War, and Trade Along the Great Wall: Nomadic-Chinese Interaction through Two Millennia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. Page 60.
“is like attacking a shadow”: This quotation comes from the Han dynasty official Zhufu Yan in 200 BC. Also found in Jagchid and Symons, page 57.
“covetous for grain”: This quotation is from the Book of Han, a history completed in AD 111. It can be found on page 33 in Arthur Waldron’s book about the Great Wall. Other quotes in this section are from my interviews with Waldron.
the Chinese response: The material in this section, which concerns the various strategies employed by the Ming in their attempt to manage the nomads, comes from the research of the independent historian David Spindler. Spindler’s project on the Great Wall is ongoing, and most of his findings have yet to be published. He gave me an introduction to his work over the course of many interviews and several journeys to the Great Wall near Beijing. For background on Spindler’s methodology and conclusions about the Wall, see my magazine profile of him:
Hessler, Peter. “Walking the Wall.” The New Yorker, May 21, 2007.
a major tremor in 1556:
Chen Genyuan. “Ming Dai Guanzhong Da Dizhen Dui Shanxi Wenwu Zaocheng de Pohuai” [Damage to Shaanxi Cultural Relics from the Ming Dynasty Guanzhong Earthquake]. Shoucang [Collection], August 2008.
the Ordos Desert: For the relationship between the Ordos Desert and the Great Wall, see Arthur Waldron: Ibid.
more than one-fourth of China’s land suffers from desertification:
Jia Xiaoxia. “Desertification: A Growing Threat in China.” Down to Earth: The Newsletter of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 19 (December 2003): p. 2.
any benefits of willow planting would be short-lived: For background on Wushenqi (also written as Uxin Ju) and environmental issues in the Ordos:
Jiang Hong. “Grassland Campaigns in China’s Collective Era: Socialist Policies and Local Initiatives in Uxin Ju, a ‘Pastoral Dazhai.’” China’s Embedded Activism: Opportunities and Constraints of a Social Movement. London: Routledge, 2008. Pages 89–110.
———. “Reading China’s Environmental Crisis: ‘Mao’s War Against Nature’ Continues.” China Scope (September/October 2007): pp. 3–16.
———. “China’s Great Green Wall Proves Hollow.” The Epoch Times, July 30, 2009.
Part II
In 1924, Sun Yat-sen: For the history of Sun Yat-sen’s correspondence with Henry Ford, and the Chinese switch to the right-hand side of the road, see Thomas J. Campanella: Ibid.
a book called Beijing Jeep:
Mann, Jim. Beijing Jeep: A Case Study of Western Business in China. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997.
Volkswagen and General Motors made more profits: For information about profit margins for foreign automakers, I relied on interviews with Michael Dunne, currently managing director of the China office at J. D. Power and Associates. Dunne also provided me with the history of the City Special, as well as background on Chery Automobile Co.
the government of Wuhu: For information about Chery, I interviewed a number of workers and company officials in Wuhu, including Lin Zhang, the general manager for Chery’s International Division, and Yin Tongyao, the company president. The company’s strategy of asking forgiveness rather than permission was explained to me by Chu Changjun, the Communist Party Deputy Secretary of the Wuhu Economic and Technological Development Area. I also spoke with John Dinkel and other foreign consultants and partners. For more information, see my article about Chery:
Hessler, Peter. “Car Town.” The New Yorker, September 26, 2005.
one step away from the complacency that comes with happiness: There are various and often conflicting explanations of the spelling of Chery’s name. Here I’ve relied on what company officials told me in Wuhu.
In Genghis Khan’s military: For background on Genghis Khan and the rise of the Mongols:
Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.
Yin Geng’s words: Many of these quotations are from David Spindler’s unpublished research. He has published an article about Altan Khan and the “Raid of the Scorned Mongol Women”:
Spindler, David. “A Twice-Scorned Mongol Woman, the Raid of 1576, and the Building of the Brick Great Wall.” Ming Studies 60 (Fall 2009).
earliest known maps: For a discussion of the earliest known Chinese maps, and the impact of Pei Xiu, see the following article. (In English sources his name is often rendered as Pei Hsiu.):
Hsu, Mei-Ling. “The Han Maps and Early Chinese Cartography.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 68, issue 1 (March 1978): pp. 45–60.
cartography developed out of astronomy: For background on the history of Western cartography, and contrasts in developm
ent with Chinese mapmaking, I interviewed Patricia Seed, a historian at the University of California, Irvine. Her article provides an introduction to early European maps of Africa:
Seed, Patricia. “The Cone of Africa…Took Shape in Lisbon.” Humanities 29, no. 6 (November/December 2008).
for Lu Xun:
Roberts, Claire, and Geremie R. Barmé, editors. The Great Wall of China. Sydney: Powerhouse Publishing, 2006. Page 24.
“more like a river than a barrier”:
Waldron, Arthur. “Scholarship and Patriotic Education: The Great Wall Conference, 1994.” China Quarterly 143 (September 1995): p. 846.
we stuck the severed heads: This quotation is from David Spindler’s research.
“Time seems to have lost all power”: For background on Aurel Stein in China:
Walker, Annabel. Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998.
BOOK II: THE VILLAGE
Part I
Even as far back as the seventeenth century: For background on the book culture of imperial China:
Rawski, Evelyn Sakakida. Education and Popular Literacy in Ch’ing China. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1979.
texts from the late Ming dynasty: This detail comes from David Spindler’s research.
in AD 1615, a crew of 2,400 soldiers: David Spindler has transcribed and studied the tablet above Sancha; these details are from his research.
118 boys born for every 100 girls:
“Rising Sex-Ratio Imbalance ‘A Danger’.” China Daily. January 23, 2007.
estimated that more than one million Chinese had been infected with H.I.V.: At the time of Wei Jia’s illness, the Western media carried many reports of unsanitary donor practices in China, and people feared that the country was on the verge of a major epidemic. In 2001, a United Nations report estimated that over one million Chinese had been infected, and they warned of a possible figure of twenty million by 2010. The Chinese government, on the other hand, estimated that there were only 840,000 H.I.V. and AIDS cases in 2003. In the following years, it became clear that the epidemic was not as widespread as many believed. In 2006, the figures were actually reduced: the Chinese government, working with the World Health Organization and the United Nation’s AIDS program, estimated that the total number of Chinese H.I.V. and AIDS cases was 650,000. For reference, see the articles below:
Rosenthal, Elisabeth. “China Now Facing an AIDS Epidemic, A Top Aide Admits.” The New York Times, August 24, 2001.
Yardley, Jim. “New Estimate in China Finds Fewer AIDS Cases.” The New York Times, January 26, 2006.
Part II
average net income for rural people increased by 11 percent: This and the other figures in this section come from “The Rural Land Question in China,” an excellent introduction to rural issues. This paper also gives a concise history of rural land policies since the Revolution. It was prepared by a number of Chinese and American academics who worked in conjunction with the Rural Development Institute. For background, I also spoke with two of the authors of this report, Zhu Keliang and Ye Jianping.
Zhu Keliang et al. “The Rural Land Question in China: Analysis and Recommendations Based on a Seventeen-Province Survey.” New York University Journal of International Law and Politics 38, no. 4 (Summer 2006): pp. 761–839.
sixty-six million farmers lost their land: This figure is from a recent summary of China’s rural issues, which also includes an analysis of proposed policy changes:
Cheng Li. “Hu Jintao’s Land Reform: Ambition, Ambiguity, and Anxiety.” China Leadership Monitor 27 (Winter 2009).
average rural household consisted of 4.55 people: Figures in this section are from Zhu Keliang et al.: Ibid.
paving 119,000 miles of rural roads: These figures, and the comparison with the previous half century, were given at a government press conference I attended in Beijing: “The Highlights of National Expressway Network Plan,” presented by Zhang Chunxian, Minister of Communications, on January 13, 2005.
in 2003, nearly half a million Beijing residents acquired their driver’s licenses: Total figure was 480,000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
looked almost exactly like the Chevy Spark: For the controversy regarding the Chery QQ, I spoke with Chery officials and also Timothy P. Stratford, general counsel for General Motors’ China Group.
dropped by 8.8 percent: This figure comes from the People’s Bank of China, and was reported by The New York Times:
Bradsher, Keith. “G.M. to Speed Up Expansion in China.” The New York Times, June 8, 2004.
leaped by 80 percent: This figure is from an interview with Yale Zhang, director of emerging markets vehicle forecasts at CSM Asia.
fewer than one in five used a loan: see Bradsher, Keith: Ibid.
Falun Gong: For background on the rise of Falun Gong, and the crackdown:
Johnson, Ian. Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004.
hundreds of believers died in custody: This was the figure generally reported by foreign newspapers during the period when the Wei family began to engage in business. Today, estimates are even higher; Amnesty International says that over two thousand believers have died in custody. For a more recent newspaper report:
Jacobs, Andrew. “China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong.” The New York Times, April 27, 2009.
Part III
“Build New Countryside”: For background on this campaign, see Cheng Li: Ibid.
“Preserving the Progressiveness”: For background on this campaign:
Yardley, Jim. “China Attacks Its Woes With an Old Party Ritual.” The New York Times, March 9, 2006.
One volume was entitled “A Textbook for Urbanizing the Countryside”:
“Tuijin Nongcun Chengshihua Duben” [A Textbook for Urbanizing the Countryside]. Huairou Qu Shizheng Guanli Weiyuanhui [Huairou District Municipal Administration Committee]. July 2005.
cigarettes are even subsidized: This detail and the other facts about smoking in China are from my interview with Yang Gonghuan, deputy director general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trouble can start within the Party itself: For background on village elections, and the ways in which dissent sometimes occurs, I spoke with Kevin J. O’Brien, a political scientist who specializes in China at the University of California, Berkeley. See also:
O’Brien, Kevin J., and Rongbin Han. “Path to Democracy? Assessing Village Elections in China.” Journal of Contemporary China 18, no. 60 (June 2009): pp. 359–378.
BOOK III: THE FACTORY
Part I
officials announced plans: Details about China’s highway project, and Zhang Chunxian’s comments about Condoleezza Rice, are from the government press conference I attended on January 13, 2005 (see previous reference).
the Jinliwen Expressway: Background on the new road came from He Jiongwei at the Lishui City Department of Communications.
the town had 380 factories: Details about Qiaotou’s button production came from Ye Zhengxiang, chairman of the Qiaotou Button Association. The Wuyi Printing Association gave figures for Wuyi’s playing card production. Other figures came from the Wenzhou Educational Toy Association, the Wenzhou Shoe and Leather Association, the Wenzhou Smoking Paraphernalia Association, the Shengzhou Neckties Industry Association, and the Datang Textile Socks Industry Company.
nearly 80 percent of all Wenzhou entrepreneurs: Details on the educational level of Wenzhou business people, and local economic statistics, are from:
Lu Haoting. “Millionaire School.” China Daily, China Business Weekly, January 23, 2005.
The Jews of the East:
Ye Jiandong. Dongfang Youtairen: 50 Wei Wenzhou Shangren de Chuangye Gushi [The Jews of the East: The Commercial Stories of Fifty Wenzhou Entrepreneurs]. Beijing: Renmin Ribao Chubanshe [ People’s Daily Press], 2002.
a survey of local male millionaires:
“Wenzhou Qi
yejia 2.14 Qinggan Shenghuo Diaocha” [Valentine’s Day Survey of the Love Life of Wenzhou Entrepreneurs]. Caifu [Fortune Weekly, a supplement of the newspaper Wenzhou Dushibao] 138 (February 14, 2006): p. 17.
Yang Xiaohong: He was the director of Lishui’s Economy Trade Committee.
Long-term exposure to DMF causes liver damage:
Redlich, Carrie A., et al. “Liver Disease Associated with Occupational Exposure to the Solvent Dimethylformamide.” Annals of Internal Medicine 108, issue 5 (May 1988): pp. 680–86.