Chinese sketches – Robert E. Berkel
Last Thursday, Oct. 3, during the Great China Network Event in Zwolle, the Netherlands (see also VNC News), the first copy of the book ‘Chinese Sketches’ by Robert E. Berkel was presented to the Ambassador of China. October 1 marked the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The book accurately reports what exactly happened on that Saturday afternoon, Oct. 1, 1949. It also compares the reality of the time with paintings, posters and feature films made afterwards.
see https://www.lorenzetti.nl/boeken/chinese-sketches.html
The Lorenzetti Foundation has also made a compilation of this afternoon Oct. 1, 1949. It is the first time in history that a very coherent picture of this turning point in modern history is given.
The 10-minute video can be seen at:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=china+founding+ceremony+lorenzetti
Obligately happy – Garrie van Pinxteren
Garrie van Pinxteren was a correspondent for the NRC Handelsblad in China and still lives there. She has seen China change over the years. She knows China inside out and wonders how Chinese people undergo the changes in society. She takes the reader on a personal exploration of the intimacy of modern Chinese life.
Other rivers – Peter Hassler
Another book that uses personal experiences to describe China’s changes: Peter Hessler was a teacher in Fuling more than 20 years ago and worked as a correspondent for the New Yorker in China between 2000 and 2007. He went back to experience what has changed in the China he knew. Other Rivers follows Peter’s life between 2019-2021 as a teacher in Chengdu. He is mostly positive when it comes to China’s developments, but after the lockdowns, he becomes more and more aware of the difficulties and problems that young people in particular face in Xi’s China.
