In this gripping account of modern China's transformation, Duncan Hewitt introduces us to the new Chinese - the entrepreneurs and the migrant workers, the ambitious students and the young lovers, the real estate agents and restaurant owners, the performance artists and those who search for new faiths. The peasant revolutionary turned lifestyle guru, the former Shaolin monk working on a Shanghai building site, the once-conservative father running a gay hotline - and the teenagers who just want to dress up as their favourite Japanese cartoon characters. Welcome to the new China, a nation in motion, where whole streets are rebuilt in a week, car ownership is soaring, education goes private and rural workers migrate to the cities in search of a better life. But while many have benefited under the new 'aspiration nation,' others are struggling to keep up in one of the most divided societies on earth.
