Why a Booktrail?
2005: A man is sent by the Peace Corps to teach English at the heart of China
Kosher Chinese
What you need to know before your trail
In September of 2005, the Peace Corps sent Michael Levy to teach English in the heart of China’s heartland. His hosts in the city of Guiyang found additional uses for him: resident expert on Judaism, romantic adviser, and provincial basketball star, to name a few. His account of overcoming vast cultural differences to befriend his students and fellow teachers is by turns poignant and laugh-out-loud funny.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Guizhou
Guizhou is a province whose capital city is Guiyang. Guizhou is a relatively poor and economically undeveloped province, but demographically it is one of China’s most diverse.
It’s a very mountainous province known for its traditional rural villages, inhabited by minority groups like the Miao and Dong. ISome of the most famous sights in the area include the 74m-high Huangguoshu Waterfall and nearby Dragon Palace Cave – an extensive underground system with waterways.
“While revelling in the peculiarities of life in China’s interior, the author also discovered the rest of China seems to have a complex relationship with both their own traditions and the rapid changes of modernization. Lagging behind in China’s economic boom, they experience the darker side of ‘capitalism with Chinese characteristics’, daily facing the schizophrenia of conflicting ideologies.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Kosher Chinese
Destination: Guiyang Author/Guide: Michael Levy Departure Time: 2005
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