Eating bitterness : stories from the front lines of China's great urban migration / Michelle Dammon Loyalka.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Loyalka, Michelle Dammon, 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rural-urban migration--China--History.

Rural-urban migration.

Migration, Internal--China--History.

Migration, Internal.

China--Social conditions--1976-2000.

China.

China--Social conditions--2000-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (277 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Every year over 200 million peasants flock to China's urban centers, providing a profusion of cheap labor that helps fuel the country's staggering economic growth. Award-winning journalist Michelle Dammon Loyalka follows the trials and triumphs of eight such migrants-including a vegetable vendor, an itinerant knife sharpener, a free-spirited recycler, and a cash-strapped mother-offering an inside look at the pain, self-sacrifice, and uncertainty underlying China's dramatic national transformation. At the heart of the book lies each person's ability to "eat bitterness"-a term that roughly means to endure hardships, overcome difficulties, and forge ahead. These stories illustrate why China continues to advance, even as the rest of the world remains embroiled in financial turmoil. At the same time, Eating Bitterness demonstrates how dealing with the issues facing this class of people constitutes China's most pressing domestic challenge.

Contents:

The veggie vendors

The impenetrable knife sharpener

The teenage beauty queens

The ever-floating floater

The landless landlords

The nowhere nanny

The opportunity spotter

The big boss.

Notes:

"Philip E. Lilienthal book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613520869

9781280116575

1280116579

9780520952034

0520952030

OCLC:

774278966