TTFeb: A long form news article you really like

silveredeye prompted: A long form news article you really like (and why you like it).

 

China's Reform Generation Adapts to Life in the Middle Class, by Peter Hessler

 

I've read Hessler's older articles on Egypt and China before, but this one was the one to make me look for one of his books! (Which I blogged about in January's Media Diet.) In the 90s, Hessler was an English teacher in Fuling, China through the Peace Corps; now, more than two decades later, Hessler recounts the paths some of his students took. Because of the personal nature of these anecdotes and the good job Hessler does at being open and curious, I think it's an interesting snapshot no matter how much recent Chinese history you know. It's a snapshot of a particular group: nearly all grew up in rural poverty, made it to college, and benefitted from the staggering rise of living conditions and income of the 90s and 00s. But for all its specificity, I think it illuminates why a particular generation might think the way it does-- and why the 90s and 00s generation would hold such different views. 

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