- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: SOFT SKULL PRESS; Original edition (5 Feb 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1593762232
- ISBN-13: 978-1593762230
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 910,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Drawn by the streets humming with the energy of constant change, Zachary Mexico, who had spent two years in China, returned there in the summer of 2006 to conduct formal research on how the changing environment has affected the Chinese of his generation. This is an engaging firsthand account of a young writer's encounter with the new China and the young people who are pursuing their future there. China Underground tells their stories, and some of Mexico's own.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
An insightful, fluid and thorough delve into Chinese counter culture. Mexico strays from the well-trodden ground of Beijing and Shanghai to China's less-explored cities, where often the most interesting stories are to be found. From the wonderful Killing People Games chapter, to the short stop in China's most polluted city and the look at prostitution, it's a fun whistle-stop tour of China. Essential reading before a visit for anyone interested in China beyond the Great Wall. If I had one criticism, it'd be this book focuses a little too heavily on young people, those of Mexico's generation. Perhaps a look at the broader spectrum of society would have been nice, and less dwelling on drugs, but maybe that's another book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
19 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
This is not the Communist China we grew up with!
21 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback
Having recently read and reviewed Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, in which two women travel to Communist China in the '80s, I was fascinated to read Zachary Mexico's riveting portraits of "underground" artists, musicians, and intellectuals in the newer, more open China of the 21st century. I actually had Zachary Mexico's father as a guest Pilates client for several days here at Parrot Cay. I always ask guests about the books they are reading while on holiday, and he actually gave me his copy of the book just before he left so that I could read it for review.
Having lived in Kunming, China from 2002-2004, Mexico found that he really missed China. As he says, "it is hard to imagine a more exciting place than China." With a growing economy and more personal creative freedom, people at every level of Chinese society are changing and growing in ways nobody would have imagined 10 or 20 years ago. So he decided to return and write "about the crazy people I'd met in China and the even crazier people they'd introduced me to."
China Underground takes us from the mountains of Dali, where green marijuana grows freely and is smoked freely by just about everybody, to Linfen, the most polluted city in the world, where everyone wears masks to filter the obvious particles out of the air. He visits with prostitutes (known as chickens), with minority Uighur musicians, with filmmakers, writers, homosexuals (rabbits), and academics.
I must admit that I was at first shocked by the amount of drug use among the younger Chinese. Pot, black hashish, ketamine, cocaine... many are stoned all day every day. And they are disillusioned after growing up in a Communist system that actively discourages individual creative thought and any kind of critical argument.
The overall feeling of the book is hard to pin down, as even the same people express desperation, glee, excitement, despair, boredom, and impatience all in the space of a few hours or days. People want change, but aren't necessarily prepared for what change might mean.
Mexico offers a peek into the inside inner workings of daily life in China that most of us will never get to see. You will be surprised, shocked, and horrified. You will laugh, cry, and get angry. But most of all China Underground will make you think about China differently. This is not the Communist China we grew up with!
Having lived in Kunming, China from 2002-2004, Mexico found that he really missed China. As he says, "it is hard to imagine a more exciting place than China." With a growing economy and more personal creative freedom, people at every level of Chinese society are changing and growing in ways nobody would have imagined 10 or 20 years ago. So he decided to return and write "about the crazy people I'd met in China and the even crazier people they'd introduced me to."
China Underground takes us from the mountains of Dali, where green marijuana grows freely and is smoked freely by just about everybody, to Linfen, the most polluted city in the world, where everyone wears masks to filter the obvious particles out of the air. He visits with prostitutes (known as chickens), with minority Uighur musicians, with filmmakers, writers, homosexuals (rabbits), and academics.
I must admit that I was at first shocked by the amount of drug use among the younger Chinese. Pot, black hashish, ketamine, cocaine... many are stoned all day every day. And they are disillusioned after growing up in a Communist system that actively discourages individual creative thought and any kind of critical argument.
The overall feeling of the book is hard to pin down, as even the same people express desperation, glee, excitement, despair, boredom, and impatience all in the space of a few hours or days. People want change, but aren't necessarily prepared for what change might mean.
Mexico offers a peek into the inside inner workings of daily life in China that most of us will never get to see. You will be surprised, shocked, and horrified. You will laugh, cry, and get angry. But most of all China Underground will make you think about China differently. This is not the Communist China we grew up with!
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Mexico in China
6 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback
>> I just finished Zachary Mexico's book. I'm amazed by his
>> eloquent story telling, the clarity of his observations and his
>> proficiency in the subtleties of the Chinese language. I was struck by his
>> bravery to travel alone throughout China following leads, exploring the dicey
>> underbelly of an enormous, complex country and exposing his findings.
>
>> The writings show an avid interest in people's stories, a gift of
>> conversation, a true non-judgemental ( my spell checker is telling me that is not a word) compassion for how people deal with their lot in life.
>>
>> The book was captivating because of the fascinating, real people interviewed and because of Zachary's youthful yet wise reactions to his surroundings. In addition to character descriptions and life situations he fleshed out his studies by writing about their living spaces, food choices, clothing fit and interestingly, brand names of their cigarettes as if that too reflected upon one's character. He sees China as a worldly, yet objective, young outsider, free to express what is often not sanctioned in China. His inclusion of historical contexts was extremely helpful.
>> eloquent story telling, the clarity of his observations and his
>> proficiency in the subtleties of the Chinese language. I was struck by his
>> bravery to travel alone throughout China following leads, exploring the dicey
>> underbelly of an enormous, complex country and exposing his findings.
>
>> The writings show an avid interest in people's stories, a gift of
>> conversation, a true non-judgemental ( my spell checker is telling me that is not a word) compassion for how people deal with their lot in life.
>>
>> The book was captivating because of the fascinating, real people interviewed and because of Zachary's youthful yet wise reactions to his surroundings. In addition to character descriptions and life situations he fleshed out his studies by writing about their living spaces, food choices, clothing fit and interestingly, brand names of their cigarettes as if that too reflected upon one's character. He sees China as a worldly, yet objective, young outsider, free to express what is often not sanctioned in China. His inclusion of historical contexts was extremely helpful.
Truly underground
31 Jan 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I lived in Shanghai for a year in college in the mid 90's and some of the stories in the book really resonated with what I saw there. I give kudos to Zachary's passion for journalism and being amiable enough to be invited inside the locked closets. The stories are captivating and fascinating and together paint a picture. However having lived there I felt the culmination of stories where only a slice of the pie.
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