Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World

by Zak Dychtwald Narrated by Zak Dychtwald

Overview

This program is read by the author.

The author, in his twenties, who is fluent in Chinese, examines the future of China through the lens of the Jiu Ling Hou-the generation born after 1990.

A close up look at the Chinese generation born after 1990 exploring through personal encounters how young Chinese feel about everything from money and sex, to their government, the West, and China's shifting role in the world--not to mention their love affair with food, karaoke, and travel. Set primarily in the Eastern 2nd tier city of Suzhou and the budding Western metropolis of Chengdu, the book charts the touchstone issues this young generation faces. From single-child pressure, to test taking madness and the frenzy to buy an apartment as a prerequisite to marriage, from one-night-stands to an evolving understanding of family, Young China offers a fascinating portrait of the generation who will define what it means to be Chinese in the modern era.

Zak Dychtwald was twenty when he first landed in China. He spent years deeply immersed in the culture, learning the language and hanging out with his peers, in apartment shares and hostels, on long train rides and over endless restaurant meals.

Praise for Young China:

"To make sense of contemporary China, it is crucial to understand the varied aspirations, anxieties, fears and fantasies of the many millions of Chinese - as big a group as the entire populations of some sizeable countries - who were born after the year that soliders killed protestors near Tiananmen Square. Young China provides an excellent starting point for doing just that." - The Wall Street Journal

Editorial Reviews

MAY 2018 - AudioFile

Zak Dychtwald immersed himself in life in China; he rode the railways, learned the language, and now tells us about it. Dychtwald gives his storytelling an energetic delivery that makes his experiences all the more fascinating. He will have listeners laughing as his friends tell him his attempts to speak Chinese are "cute." He also recounts his experiences answering a range of questions about life in America to rapt audiences on late-night trains. One such question: Has he ever visited Hotel California? Dychtwald explains the differences in the four tones used in Mandarin Chinese at a pace that will help the unfamiliar soak them up—a wonderful reason to listen to this book instead of reading it in print. He will stun listeners with his linguistic dexterity and knowledge of a complex country. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

★ 10/23/2017
Debut author Dychtwald, who heads the China office of the Dilenschneider Group consulting firm, delves into the trends and culture of Chinese youths to explore how modern-day China is evolving into a more open and inclusive society. Penetrating the world of Chinese millennials (defined here as those born between 1984 and 2002), Dychtwald touches on their famously demanding study practices through an interview with a graduate-school applicant who spends nearly 90 hours weekly studying for an entrance exam. Dychtwald’s own experience teaching English to kindergarteners brings him into contact with China’s “little emperors”—the young products of the Chinese one-child policy who are simultaneously coddled and pressured to succeed. Other trend-based neologisms reported in the book include the delightfully strange “parent eaters”—those who rely on parental support well into adulthood—and the heartbreaking “leftover woman”—an unmarried woman over 27 years old. A mother overheard admonishing her daughter crystallizes lingering conservative attitudes toward marriage and romance: “Dating not for the sake of marriage is hooliganism!” Dychtwald also examines Chinese youths’ retail habits, growing tolerance toward homosexuality, and views on democracy, censorship, and the Communist Party. It’s a richly informative and surprisingly intimate portrait of a side of China unknown to most Westerners. Agent: Elizabeth Kaplan, Elizabeth Kaplan Literary Agency Inc. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

"Engrossing...[Dychtwald]...writes with an infectious energy...To make sense of contemporary China, it is crucial to understand the varied aspirations, anxieties, fears and fantasies of the many millions of Chinese as big a group as the entire populations of some sizeable countries who were born after the year that soldiers killed protesters near Tiananmen Square. Young China provides an excellent starting point for doing just that." —The Wall Street Journal

"Enlightening...we learn that Chinese millennials, unlike their jaded American counterparts, are still dreamers and strivers, and have faith that they can achieve their dreams." —The Washington Post

"Fascinating... a remarkably revealing portrait of China's youngest generations." —Christian Science Monitor

"Dychtwald presents a thoughtful depiction of a culture that, in the words of one young person, 'has a voice but needs to be translated for a global audience.'" —Booklist

"Fascinating...An entertaining and instructive exploration of the Chinese generation born after 1990." —BookPage

"This engaging and fast-paced read will appeal to those interested in modern China and the experiences of Millennials." —Library Journal

"Insightful...Readable and engaging...Informative and often entertaining good reading for anyone looking into the crystal ball for a glimpse of the world a quarter-century from now." —Kirkus Reviews

"Dychtwald builds an intimate profile of Chinese millennials—how they cope with crushing academic and professional pressures, their ideas about marriage, sex, and love, and their views on country and government—and how, ultimately, they are changing China and the world. An engaging read for anyone looking for an introduction to contemporary Chinese culture and society." —Elizabeth Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations

"A richly informative and surprisingly intimate portrait of a side of China unknown to most Westerners." —Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"In Young China, Dychtwald builds an intimate profile of Chinese millennials how they cope with crushing academic and professional pressures, their ideas about marriage, sex, and love, and their views on country and government—and how, ultimately, they are changing China and the world. A series of lively anecdotes and personal experiences woven together with accessible research and analysis, Young China is an engaging read for anyone looking for an introduction to contemporary Chinese culture and society." —Elizabeth Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations

"An absolute delight: a highly engaging, well-reported look at contemporary China at the ground level. Zak Dychtwald of Young China is himself young and, thankfully, gregarious and observant. He introduces readers to his wide circle of Chinese friends. A rarity among books about China: Young China is a fun read." —Randall Stross, author of Bulls in the China Shop and Other Sino-American Business Encounters

“If you read just one book about where China is heading, let this be it—clear, exciting, and revelatory.” —Amory B. Lovins, cofounder and chief scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute

“China and everything Chinese are looming large now and in the near future for the world to reckon with. We need young minds and young talents from both the East and the West to find deeper mutual understanding and enhance genuine synthesis. Here is a book of thoughtful, in-depth study and research, through Dychtwald's personal experience living with the Chinese younger generation. This is a most timely and insightful book.” —Chungliang Al Huang, President-Founder, Living Tao Foundation, Director, International Lan Ting Institute

"An indispensable must-read journey of discovery and a cogent analysis into the mindset and future of young China." —Dr. James Canton, CEO & Chairman The Institute for Global Futures, author, Future Smart

"Day by day, China's influence grows, all around us, directly and indirectly, whether or not we perceive it. Young China by Zak Dychtwald will make this apparent to you. He has explored corners of China's land and soul that remain invisible to virtually all of our pundits and media, bringing fresh eyes to what he sees. You will be smart—and wise—to read what he has to say." —Michael Murphy, founder of the Esalen Institute

"A fascinating book about young China by a young American who dared to learn Mandarin and immerse himself in Chinese life and friendships. China changes so fast that everything we think we know about it is obsolete in a heartbeat. Zak Dychwald’s book makes us feel we have been in China with him.” —Erica Jong

MAY 2018 - AudioFile

Zak Dychtwald immersed himself in life in China; he rode the railways, learned the language, and now tells us about it. Dychtwald gives his storytelling an energetic delivery that makes his experiences all the more fascinating. He will have listeners laughing as his friends tell him his attempts to speak Chinese are "cute." He also recounts his experiences answering a range of questions about life in America to rapt audiences on late-night trains. One such question: Has he ever visited Hotel California? Dychtwald explains the differences in the four tones used in Mandarin Chinese at a pace that will help the unfamiliar soak them up—a wonderful reason to listen to this book instead of reading it in print. He will stun listeners with his linguistic dexterity and knowledge of a complex country. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-12-10
Travels in the China of the aspiring, wanting young.By Mandarin-fluent communications consultant Dychtwald's reckoning, there are about 400 million millennials in China—more, that is, than the entire population of the United States, and though Chinese reckon generations by decades, those born between 1984 and 2002 (the U.S. definition of "millennial") constitute a vast and world-changing cohort, "part of the world's middle class, the first generations less preoccupied with needs and more involved with wants." The author ventures insightful comments about his time in China, likening his explorations to the rock walls of the Grand Canyon, each layer telling its own story, from the differences between Chinese and American cultures to the differences between the idealized Chinese life of Buddhism and Confucianism and the actual Chinese life of consumer capitalism. Dychtwald chronicles the pent-up demand for things that fuels a subeconomy of faked Western brands, and he observes the rise in obesity among young Chinese to levels higher than Japan or South Korea. Much of this he links, in a nice logical exercise, to the consequences of the one-child policy (now abandoned) and the resultant surfeit of grandparents as compared to grandchildren. "A grandparent-led childhood," he writes, "is part of why excess, and greater wealth, is so central to the experience of China's only children." The narrative is full of incomplete stories—incomplete because they're not yet resolved, such as whether gay people will be accepted in the rising China—and unintended consequences: China's anti-corruption campaigns, for example, mean that government work is not financially desirable, driving young people into entrepreneurship. Dychtwald is sometimes gee-whizzy and given to stating the obvious ("because of their remoteness, these places are prettier and more serene than the industrializing areas of China and are relatively untouched"), but his book is readable and engaging all the same.Informative and often entertaining—good reading for anyone looking into the crystal ball for a glimpse of the world a quarter-century from now.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169197396
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	05/01/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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