Saturday, May 15, 2010

Country Driving by Peter Hessler (book about driving across China)


Although I'm only on page 9, I already know this is going to be a great book.  Here are a couple of excerpts:

"When I began planning my trip, a Beijing driver recommended The Chinese Automobile Driver's Book of Maps.  A company called Sinomaps published this book, which divided the nation into 158 separate diagrams.  There was even a road map of Taiwan, which has to be included in any mainland atlas for political reasons, despite the fact that nobody using Sinomaps will be driving to Taipei.  It's even less likely that a Chinese motorist will find himself on the Spratly Islands, in the middle of the South China Sea, territory currently disputed by five different nations.  The Spratlys have no civilian inhabitants but the Chinese swear by their claim, so the Automobile Driver's Book of Maps included a page for the island chain.  That was the only map without any roads."

Here is a driver's license exam question:
"352. If another motorist stops you to ask directions, you should
a) not tell him.
b) reply patiently and accurately.
c) tell him the wrong way."

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