Other Rivers

A Chinese Education

By: Peter Hessler

Narrated by: Peter Hessler

An intimate and revelatory account of two generations of students in China’s heartland, by an author who has observed the country’s tumultuous changes over the past quarter century

More than two decades after teaching English during the early part of China’s economic boom, an experience chronicled in his book River Town, Peter Hessler returned to Sichuan Province to instruct students from the next generation. At the same time, Hessler and his wife enrolled their twin daughters in a local state-run elementary school, where they were the only Westerners. Over the years, Hessler had kept in close contact with many of the people he had taught in the 1990s. By reconnecting with these individuals—members of China’s “Reform generation,” now in their forties—while teaching current undergrads, Hessler gained a unique perspective on China’s incredible transformation.

In 1996, when Hessler arrived in China, almost all of the people in his classroom were first-generation college students. They typically came from large rural families, and their parents, subsistence farmers, could offer little guidance as their children entered a brand-new world. By 2019, when Hessler arrived at Sichuan University, he found a very different China, as well as a new kind of student—an only child whose schooling was the object of intense focus from a much more ambitious cohort of parents. At Sichuan University, many young people had a sense of irony about the regime but mostly navigated its restrictions with equanimity, embracing the opportunities of China’s rise. But the pressures of extreme competition at scale can be grueling, even for much younger children—including Hessler’s own daughters, who gave him an intimate view into the experience at their local school.

In Peter Hessler’s hands, China’s education system is the perfect vehicle for examining the country’s past, present, and future, and what we can learn from it, for good and ill. At a time when anti-Chinese rhetoric in America has grown blunt and ugly, Other Rivers is a tremendous, essential gift, a work of enormous empathy that rejects cheap stereotypes and shows us China from the inside out and the bottom up. As both a window onto China and a mirror onto America, Other Rivers is a classic from a master of the form.

©2024 Peter Hessler (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“In River Town (2001), Hessler described teaching English and learning Chinese in the remote town of Fuling. Back after 20 years, much has changed . . . Throughout, Hessler shares the words of his students—variously curious, skeptical, tired, and wise—in what is, at heart, a meditation on teaching and learning from one’s students.” —Booklist (starred)

“Hessler paints an expansive panorama of China . . . The result is an enthralling take on China’s remarkable progress and its downside.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Beyond the headlines of strategic rivalry and military confrontation with China are countless stories of real people trying to live in a complex country . . . [Hessler] tells [students’] stories with empathy and affection . . . shines a valuable light on the reality of life in today’s China.” —​Kirkus​

Peter Hessler did a great job narrating this book

The previous book River town was narrated by someone who doesn’t speak or read Chinese, hence quite confusing whenever Chinese names or places are mentioned or quoted in the book. The narrator is also kind of hysterical, ending every single sentence with a rising tone.

Peter Hessler is obviously the best narrator for this new book.

Great book, a bit too much overlap with the previous book though.

I especially enjoyed the detailed interactions with common sense staff members. Sadly I didn’t know that such a magazine existed.

The author’s compassion and love for China and his Chinese students.

A fascinating and deeply felt book read superbly by the author. Hessler’s insights into Chinese society and two generations of young Chinese are profoundly enlightening. Never boring, it brings provincial China to life. I highly recommend it.

Spot on for China retrograde

Perspective is everything and Hessler nails the changing pervasive ills of China today. 30 Years of change has produced degraded prospects for the young.

Peter Hessler undefeated

No one delivers the goods like Peter Hessler - this is top form. Especially delightful for River Town fans.

Great follow up to “River Town”

If you are a fan of Peter Hessler, this books is just as good as all the others.

Real

Honest and empathetic. A must read for anyone interested in what China is. Ten out of ten.

An extremely moving and honest account of contemporary China

The writer’s empathy towards the people he writes about together with his honesty and deep knowledge of the subject make this book worth reading. His style makes it a pleasure to read or listen

The accuracy of observations. The outstanding perspective.

Chinese readers deserve more writers like Peter Hessler. It's a shame that he gets "kicked out".

From education to surviving politics, reflecting firsthand experience

It’s great to have the author as narrator, he’s good and I didn’t have to suffer through mispronunciations of Chinese.

I used similar books while teaching courses before this Hessler book came out or I would have used it intensely. He conveys a good sense of how most things work well despite the authoritarian political system, including how the bureaucratic system creates interstices. His 25+ years experience adds to the richness.

Of particular interest was his account of his daughters’ elementary school, because my son and daughter both attended a local elementary school in Tokyo. The early schooling environment in the US, Japan and China clearly have a large and lasting impact on their societies. There appears to be a lot in common across China, but in Japan there’s disparity by high school (see Tom Rohlen’s study of 3 high schools), and even more in the US, with elite AP students alongside the functionally illiterate and innumerate.

What I don’t know is the impact of declining population on schools. Here Japan is in the vanguard, with widespread closures, particularly in rural communities where some neighborhoods have no one under age 70. Time for interlibrary loan requests? - I no longer have to go to Tokyo to access Japanese language materials.

Oh, and in learning to read Chinese, Hessler’s book indicates that I surely need to track down a couple anthologies of Tang poems as it’s part of the basic vocabulary even at the elementary school level. For Japan that’s not needed, “hyakunin isshu” (100 poems from 100 writers) aren’t quoted much, and in contemporary English novels authors seem compelled to have their characters point out when they’re quoting Shakespeare.

In sum, this is well worth reading for everyone with an interest in contemporary China. But it should be read more widely, for its insights in sociology and education.

A meh book

Not much of a story, just some documentary articles. Nothing really insightful, not sure who’s the audience, I am disappointed.