An outstanding book about the parts of China the Chinese government doesn't promote and few westerners will ever visit. Traveling in the borderlands of China you can see that not only is China enormous economic, but not all of the people are benefiting from the exploding economy, nor are they happy communists. For me the second half of the book was the best with travels along the south along Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma. As well as the northern frontier especially along N Korea.
This is a fascinating book and extremely informative. ( )

Eisner has spent a good fifteen or more years living and working as a journalist. He travels to the margins of China, where the Chinese struggle to impose hegemony over the myriad minorities that inhabit those regions. The difficulty in doing so is expressed in the book's title. I found the observations of western and southern China particularly absorbing, and between Google Earth and YouTube, I was able to visually follow his journeys. He does include some historical backdrop; however, I could have used more. His section on northern China is quite abbreviated and seems an aside. His writing is not as reflective, and perhaps understandably more journalistic than Colin Thubron's writings on the same subject. Still the book is an engaging and informative adjunct. If this is an area of the world you do not know much about, this book provides a good introduction. ( )