Michelle Dammon Loyalka
Every year over 200 million peasants flock to Chinaâ€™s urban centers, providing a profusion of cheap labor that helps fuel the countryâ€™s staggering economic growth. Award-winning journalist Michelle Dammon Loyalka follows the trials and triumphs of eight such migrantsâ€”including a vegetable vendor, an itinerant knife sharpener, a free-spirited recycler, and a cash-strapped motherâ€”offering an inside look at the pain, self-sacrifice, and uncertainty underlying Chinaâ€™s dramatic national transformation. At the heart of the book lies each personâ€™s ability to â€œeat bitternessâ€â€”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 Chinaâ€™s most pressing domestic challenge.
Cultural,China,Nonfiction
Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration