Little Emperors: A Year with the Future of China

By JoAnn Dionne

Much has been made about how the New China has become an economic juggernaut in today's world while civil liberties and basic freedoms remain constricted. We know where the aging leadership has taken and is taking China, but what about the very young? What are they like?

When JoAnn Dionne arrived in Guangzho, she came prepared to live and teach elementary school in a Communist country. She expected to see soldiers in the streets, people in grey Mao suits, and lineups to buy toilet paper. Instead she found the world's oldest country, throwing itself headlong into the future. She found traffic jams and 24/7 constructions, neon lights and smog, shopping malls and modern high-rises. And then she met the people who would live in that future -- her students. Along with crisp insights into Chinese culture as seen through the eyes of a North American, Dionne provides a funny, often poignant glimpse of a nation undergoing rapid transformation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550027565
• ISBN13: 9781550027563
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Triumph for Little Emperors

I cried, laughed, cheered and atop of it all, I absolutely loved the book. Though there were times when I saw the word 'market', and I was not sure if I should skip the paragraph due to what animal part, etc I would learn about next...however I did not miss a word. The flow was incredible and it made the read effortless. Questions I had regarding China were answered, and I (think) I can understand why you keep going back. Those children, the stories from Connie and the Old Man, for me, they grabbed my heart and I would yearn to learn more. Thank you so much for the insight to a complicated yet beautiful land...