Lost on Planet China: One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation

If you like Paul Theroux you'll enjoy this book. My test for a valid travel/summary of contemporary China is the spit test. If the book doesn't cover the spit factor in China it fails. Troost gets an A+. I quote, "...I watched the residents of Beijing, young and old, male and even a few elderly women greet the new day with an immense hawk and a resonant splatter........" And that wasn't even close to his best descriptive.

As a China born, now California resident, I felt quite curious to read what an American had to say about my home country. In the beginning, I will admit, I was somewhat offended by the way he portrayed us but then as I began to remember my last visit to my hometown (1 hour's drive from Bejing) and read more, I realized he was right. We do have quite a lot of pollution. We are possibly the rudest people on the planet. And the traffic is hell (what is considered good driving there, which is not crashing into someone, is quite different here.) Some parts, like the beggars and the takeover of Tibet made me cry. I used to think Tibet was better off with China but after reading this, I realize I was grieviously blinded. Now I want to kick all my fellow Chinese out of Tibet. I do wonder though, if he gave the beggars money. A lot of parts made me laugh. Hard. But I won't give any specifics away. I learned a lot. Seriously, my mother didn't even know that you can bargain for taxi rides. Though we refrained from speaking english there to make sure we weren't cheated. The Mao Regimen especially was an eyeopener. I knew he was bad, but not Hitler bad. It really shows how censored China is. And yes, it's true. We Chinese are proud. And we also hate Japan (most of us anyways - you'd be hard pressed to find someone not). And we can get REALLY crazy. One actress was told to wear pants with a picture of the Japanese flag on it for a photoshoot. Big mistake. China shamed her, crowds threw eggs at her, and people relentlessly bashed her on the internet. Poor dear. This was worse than when the Chinese actresses were shamed for being in Memoirs of a Geisha. I was slightly dissapointed that he didn't visit a McDonald's (only here in China do you see businessmen having lunch meetings at Mickey Dees) or my hometown as we have a good selection of fresh fruit available every day. But we also have people throwing cucumbers out of their 5th story window as a way of saying "Shut up!". And beaches infested with jellyfish. That are later served for dinner. Overall, this book was amazing, refreshingly honest, and wonderfully written. It's addictive yet light enough that you can let go of the book with only mild efforts and get some sleep.

This book is a brilliant account of an experience of a first time traveler in China. As the two previous books Maarten Troost has published, this book is readable and funny. Maarten's experience traveling throughout China gives on a good understanding of the challenges China is facing in trying to modernize at an accelerated rate. "Modernization at any cost" approach has had dire consequences on the environment and culture. Another interesting observation has been that although the government has good control over what is going on, it does not have total control of every aspect of daily life (the way for example it was in the USSR). I am sure those who know China well may take up an issue with the author's grim depiction of China. However, the author does not claim to be an expert on China and the book is written from the perspective of an open minded outsider traveling though China for the first time. Overall... a fun read!

What a great book. Well written and witty. I felt like I was in China with him. Having friends who recently returned from China after adopting children, and their experiences there, I would recommend that everyone read this book before traveling to China. What an eye opener, and so funny at times that I laughed out loud. Educational, informative and entertaining all at once. The author has a wonderful personality and sense of humor- I could easily travel with him and think the same thoughts he did at events and surroundings he experienced. I was sorry the journey ended. If there were more than five stars, this book would get them.