China in Ten Words by Yu Hua
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Some memories and some thoughts about Chinese social media memes from a famous author. It is pretty clear that many, probably most, of the modern 'stories' he reports are not researched and probably only dimly, if at all, based in fact. This of course makes one wonder how careful he is with the 'memories'. The writing/translating is certainly engaging, making this an easy and enjoyable read. However since it is not researched at all, and more or less just whatever Yu Hua thinks lately, the insights into China are weak at best. For example, the 'copycat' phenomenon is certainly not a novel phenomenon related to the shift to consumerism in the PRC as reported here - fake 'Nikom' camera lenses were being hawked in Hong Kong when I was there in 1983. If you believe this book has given you great insight into modern China, you have been bamboozled. I suspect the content and lessons from the great leap and red guard period are more reliable. One of the most interesting insights i got from reading the book, apparently serendipitously since it was published pre-covid, was comparing his introductory description of immunization campaigns in China in the 1970's with today's efforts in response to the Coronavirus.

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