Gao Village Revisited – The Life of Rural People in Contemporary China - Softcover

"This sequel to Gao's earlier work about his home village in Jiangxi Province is an engaging and digestible short course on contemporary China's rural economy. The anecdotes from observation and personal knowledge of the lives of Gao villagers reflect Gao's critical, often wry perspective; some of the best chapters are those that profile the lives of Gao villagers' entrepreneurial vicissitudes in a relatively unregulated market environment." - Ann Hill, Dickinson College

As an anthropologist and native of Gao Village, the author combines ethnographic analysis, personal vignettes, and a number of fascinating stories to present a convincing yet complex picture of how Gao villagers interact with the outside world twenty years after the publication of his original ethnography of Gao Village. With his sympathetic and insider's approach, the author argues that rural Chinese display great entrepreneurship and inner strength of self-improvement; they are active contributors to China's economic boom.