Lost on Planet China
The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid

An idiosyncratic and humorous downside tour of several corners of the country. While we see some of the natural and the urban wonders of China, most of the focus is on the spitting, the urinating, the begging, the pollution, harassment by prostitutes, disturbing food and its preparation. If you want......more

A western attempt to understand the inscutable Chinese! If Bill Bryson had married Simon Winchester and the offspring of that rather offbeat pairing had written THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA instead of Simon Winchester, the result might well have been LOST ON PLANET CHINA - an offbeat, sometimes surreal tr......more

Currently, my brother is visiting China with my beautiful sister-in-law, who happens to be Chinese. This is something that they use to do on an annual basis, prior to Covid. But… After Covid hit, it has been 4 years since the last visit. Now… It has been a wonderful respite, as well as visiting her fa......more

In his first two books, 'Sex Lives of Cannibals' and 'Getting Stoned with Savages', J. Maarten Troost wrote about his life living with his diplomat wife in the far reaches of the Equatorial Pacific. Strangely, these books earned Troost the moniker, “travel writer,” despite the fact they are more mem......more

This book was a joy to read. I've lived in Hong Kong for 17 years and have spent a lot of time in China. Even though he was there for a relatively short time, he nailed a lot of the peculiarities of Chinese culture and the Chinese people. A good part of his writing is tongue-in-cheek, much in the st......more