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The last days of old Beijing : life in the vanishing backstreets of a city transformed by Michael Meyer, Michael J. Meyer is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The last days of old Beijing : life in the vanishing backstreets of a city transformed about?

A fascinating, intimate portrait of Beijing through the lens of its oldest neighborhood, facing destruction as the city, and China, relentlessly modernizes. Soon we will be able to say about old Beijing that what emperors, warlords, Japanese invaders, and Communist planners couldnt eradicate, the market economy has. Nobody has been more aware of this than Michael Meyer. A long-time resident, Meyer has, for the past two years, lived as no other Westernerin a shared courtyard home in Beijings oldest neighborhood, Dazhalan, on one of its famed hutong (lanes). There he volunteers to teach English at the local grade school and immerses himself in the community, recording with affection the life stories of the Widow, who shares his courtyard; coteacher Miss Zhu and student Little Liu; and the migrants Recycler Wang and Soldier Liu; among the many others who, despite great differences in age and profession, make up the fabric of this unique neighborhood. Their bond is rapidly being torn, however, by forced evictions as century-old houses and ways of life are increasingly destroyed to make way for shopping malls, the capitals first Wal-Mart, high-rise buildings, and widened streets for car

Who reads The last days of old Beijing : life in the vanishing backstreets of a city transformed?

Author

Michael Meyer, Michael J. Meyer

Publisher

New York: Walker & Company

Published

2008

Language

EN

ISBN

9780802717504

Category

history

Subjects

Political Science, Fiction, Travel

Rating

3.92 / 5 (799 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14