Young China, Zak Dychtwald
Young China, Zak Dychtwald
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Young China
How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World

Author: Zak Dychtwald

Narrator: Zak Dychtwald

Unabridged: 8 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/01/2018


Synopsis

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

About Zak Dychtwald

Zak Dychtwald moved to China after graduating from Columbia University. He has recently relocated to New York City where he has founded a think tank and consultancy focused on young China. A fluent Mandarin speaker, he spends nearly half of the year in China.Zak is the author of Young China.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Susan on September 19, 2018

An engaging book and something I’m interested in: millennials in China and how their lives are so different from those of their parents. But the factual inaccuracies were distracting and too plentiful to be typos or oversights. Things like now is the first time children and parents have been separat......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on August 28, 2019

A fascinating book. In addition to helping me think about how young Chinese view their country, it made me ponder what such a book about Young America might say.......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on April 06, 2021

32nd book of 2021: Pivotal Generation For most of the world’s and China’s history, generations didn’t matter. Sons and daughters adopted the class and profession of parents, and life meandered through time. But with the modernity encouraged under Deng’s reforms, generation has become destiny. Indee......more

Goodreads review by Jesse on October 19, 2020

Surely countries other than China inspire peripatetic postgraduates to socially relevant memoir, but likely none more so than this huge place, the country that turned first and fastest from impoverished state socialism to rich and getting richer state capitalism. Young Zak’s 2018 work remains releva......more

Goodreads review by Choon on August 13, 2018

Young China portrays China from the perspective of a white American man traveling through China and learning about the culture and language, while at the same time interviewing people. If you are expecting a deep academic analysis of China, turn away immediately. This is not it. Instead, it is a high......more


Quotes

"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

“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

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

“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 Zak'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

"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