Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China

From the Editors

<DIV>Paul Theroux, the author of the train travel classics The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express, takes to the rails once again in this account of his epic journey through China. He hops aboard as part of a tour group in London and sets out for China's border. He then spends a year traversing the country, where he pieces together a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history. From the barren deserts of Xinjiang to the ice forests of Manchuria, from the dense metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton to the dry hills of Tibet, Theroux offers an unforgettable portrait of a magnificent land and an extraordinary people.</div>
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Three Ws: Wry, Witty Writer!
This is the first book I've read of his. Really enjoyed it. Never had been into travel writing before (though I love to travel). I am so pleased to have found an author that brings places to life from a perspective I can relate to. Anne Fadiman is, to me, a rather similar, female author, if you've read her.

Bucket of dead eels, anyone?
Welcome to Paul Theroux's idiosyncratic brand of travel writing. The opening chapters are hilarious - Theroux joins a tour but spends most of it trying to avoid his fellow travellers, whom he dislikes. They become suspicious of him in turn when he is constantly seen to be writing.

There are many moments of dark humour, such as when Theroux answers the call of nature on a train at midnight, only to find a bucket of dead eels on the floor next to the (very dirty) toilet. The next day in the dining carriage he asks what's on the menu, and receives the disturbing reply: "Eels!"

It should be remembered that this book was written back in 1988, but while dated it provides an interesting and perceptive snapshot of a country on the threshold of change between Maoism and capitalism.

The book contains many interesting insights, for instance: "One of the wierder Chinese statistics is that 35 million Chinese people still live in caves. There is no government program to remove these trogolodytes, but there is a scheme to give them better caves. It seemed to me a kind of lateral thinking. Why rehouse or resettle these cave-dwellers? The logical solution was to improve their caves. That was very Chinese."

Or: "Mao was once asked what he thought of the French Revolution, and replied: "It's too early to say."

Other insights are more humourous: "Perhaps John Maynard Keynes to [the Chinese] was like D.H. Lawrence for us, and I tried to imagine what forbidden, dark, brooding supply-side economics might be like."

Or disturbing: "It is the belief of many Chinese I met that animals such as cats and dogs do not feel pain. They are on earth to be used - trained, put to work, killed and eaten."

The differences between northern and southern China strangely parallel those of northern and southern Germany; northerners are stereotyped as "imperious, quarrelsome, rather aloof, political, proud noodle-eaters", while southerners are "talkative, friendly, complacent, dark, sloppy, commercial-minded and materialistic rice-eaters."

But Theroux find the emptiest parts of China the most beautiful. He journeys to the far north of Heilongjiang in Manchuria, because he heard there was wilderness there: "real trees and birds." The most interesting parts of the book deal not with China itself, but these outlying areas it has attained sovereignty over: Inner Mongoila, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang and especially Tibet.

Theroux's trip into Tibet is a mixture of sublimity and farce, as he is forced to take over the car from his inept Chinese driver, who nearly gets them killed. Theroux clearly admires the Tibetans (although not their enormous and rabid mastiff dogs). "The Tibetans found a way of distancing themselves from the Chinese, and in the most effective way, by laughing at them."

But Theroux was unfortunately wrong in his assertion that Tibet would be safe from the ravages of mass tourism because it had no railway. In fact, the railway went through in 2006, some eighteen years after this book was written.

********DID NOT RECEIVE ITEM********
I order three books from this seller. I ordered them all from the same seller thinking they would be shipped together, however I read that the seller does not do this. I decided to go with this seller anyway since they had all three books that I wanted and were located in the same state. I chose USPS Media Mail as my shipping method. I waited a month for the books to arrive. After three weeks, I contacted the seller and informed them that my order had not arrived. They explained to me that it could take up to 21 business days when using the shipping method I had selected and to contact them again after that time period if I had yet to receive the order. Almost exactly as that period elapsed, I received and email from amazon stating that my order had been cancelled because the post office had returned my shipment and I would be receiving a refund shortly. I did receive the refund, however, I was not refunded for the shipping I paid which was $11+ (quite abosorbant for three books sent via media mail). I never had any notification from the USPS that I had a shipment waiting for me at the post office or else I would have simply went and picked it up. Further, when I contacted the seller asking if I could have the books reshipped or my shipping amount refunded to which they responded with:

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read and laugh at the stereotypes
Theroux comes across as an old curmudgeon with an acid view of humanity. Perhaps this is the result of having observed human nature all over the world and finding it wanting. Although some portions may seem like blown up cynicism you have to admit that many of his observations are spot on. The comments on the arrogant and simple-minded Hong Kong tourists to China is hilarious as is his recounting of his experiences with a couple of young babushkas out to make a buck in Russia. Forget being PC and hop on the train for a down-to-earth trip through Europe and on to the Middle Kingdom.

Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China
I actually read this book nearly twenty years ago and have never forgotten it. I was so pleased to find it available at Amazon.com. One of the things that especially stuck with me was the eating habits of the Chinese at that time---fascinating! Never forgotten was the pail of eels in the "bathroom" ready for the evening meal.
This reading I was able to take more time with the book and get more out of it because I wasn't working and raising three children. I even looked up Paul Theroux on Encarta to get a feel for his personality.
This is a fabulous armchair travel of China, a detailed description of the beautiful, the ugly and the strange parts of that vast country. I highly recommend it!

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