Book description
A travel narrative written over the course of ten years, One Russia,
Two Chinas is about change and resistance to change in the postmodern
world. In 1991, when the Soviet Union was about to morph into the
Russian Federation, George Fetherling found himself in Moscow. He both
marched with the workers in the last-ever Communist May Day parade and
observed, at ground level, the new Russia's love of the marketplace.
Fetherling then went overland to China. His entry point was Beijing,
which at that moment was girding itself for the first anniversary of
the Tiananmen Square massacre. Later that same year he journeyed to
Taiwan, then in its final days as a dictatorship. He returned there
mid-decade when the "Other China" had become a democracy, in
order to note the differences--and similarities.
This is old-fashioned travel writing, with vivid prose, bizarre
characters, and crystallizing descriptions. But its also a valuable
document that freezes some important world events for close
inspection.
George Fetherling is a poet, fiction writer, and voyager. His
other books include Travels by Night: A Memoir of the Sixties and such
travel narratives as Three Pagodas Pass: A Roundabout Journey to Burma
and Running Away to Sea: Round the World on a Tramp Freighter. He
lives in Vancouver and writes a books-and-ideas column for the
Vancouver Sun.
