China along the Yellow River

the long version

"This book, by leading Chinese sociologist Cao Jinqing, has had a major impact in its original Chinese version. Reviewed in the Far East Economic Review as 'one of the richest portraits of the Chinese countryside published in the reform era' the book charts a long journey through the hinterland region of the Yellow River undertaken by the author in 1996.". "It examines in exhaustive detail the lives and work of peasants, Party and local government officials, providing a wealth of data on the nature of life in post-reform rural China. The author argues that the current economic reforms in China have brought hardship for many small farmers in China's interior. The latter, he says, are being driven almost beyond endurance by official corruption and excessive taxation; in the past they have frequently rebelled, and he questions whether they will do so again."--BOOK JACKET.