This important book, based on Cheng's wide travels and research in China in 1993-95 as a fellow of the U.S.-based Institute of Current World Affairs, dispels several myths.

Foreign Affairs

By walking the reader through China from the vantage point of local residents who live daily through chaotic changes and pressing concerns, the book gives a human face to China's complex transformation. . . . The depth of Li's conversations with locals and the breadth of personal contacts on which those were based are extraordinarily impressive and are unlikely to be matched by non-Chinese speakers. . . . The book's immediacy and wealth of information make a unique and major contribution. Together, the variegated data help build a strong case against what Li calls 'serious misconceptions' in the West about contemporary China. . . . Li's arguments are compelling not only because of his intellectual sensitivity but also because of his intellectual integrity. Balance and objectivity are strong qualities of this work.

Yan Sun, associate professor of art history, Gettysburg College, American Political Science Review

Li explores the meaning of China's reforms to the people who are both suffering and enjoying them. Based in Shanghai during the mid-1990s, Li

Rediscovers

Informative and exciting. . . . Students and scholars of China will benefit from reading this book, even if they do travel to China, because Li has seen things and talked to people that are not easily accessible to Westerners. Those who have not had a chance to visit recently should also read this book simply to catch up with the monumental changes now occurring.

Journal of Asian Studies

Cheng Li . . . provides intriguing insights into the minutiae of everday economic and social life through vignettes on the lifestyles, hopes and problems of individual entrepreneurs, migrant workers, factory managers, taxi drivers and others whom he meets on his travels. He builds a persuasive argument which needs to be taken seriously in weighing up the scenarios for China's future.

The China Journal

By the end of Rediscovering China, every reader will have learned something new . . . . His cast is rich, and so are the anecdotes [the author] tells.

Far Eastern Economic Review