{"product_id":"2026100009752-secondhand-china-but-not-cathay","title":"China But Not Cathay","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Fair\u003cbr\u003eJacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage\u003cbr\u003ePages: Yellowed\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: chipped and worn dj with some loss. Some marks and specks on boards. Binding remains tight. Internally sound. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind the ancient myth of Cathay — the romanticised, jewelled vision of China conjured by Marco Polo and centuries of Western imagination — lies a nation of staggering complexity, contradiction, and living humanity that few outsiders have ever truly witnessed. China But Not Cathay strips away that gilded fantasy, presenting an intimate and unflinching portrait of modern China through the eyes of Hsiao Ch'ien, one of the most eloquent Chinese journalists and writers of the twentieth century. Drawing on his own lived experience navigating the fault lines between Eastern tradition and Western modernity, Hsiao chronicles the social upheavals, cultural tensions, and deeply human stories that defined China during one of its most turbulent eras.\n\nHsiao Ch'ien writes with a rare dual authority — that of a native son and a cosmopolitan intellectual who studied and reported across Europe — lending his prose a lucid, quietly passionate quality that is at once journalistic and deeply literary. His work argues powerfully against the reductive stereotypes that had long governed Western perceptions of China, insisting instead on the nation's multifaceted, evolving identity. Rich with personal anecdote, sharp social observation, and genuine warmth, this volume stands as a vital historical document and a testament to the power of cross-cultural understanding — leaving the reader to wonder how much of the Cathay myth still quietly persists today.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203287523547,"sku":"2026100009752-SECONDHAND","price":25.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/d4a6df3a-7fac-41e1-bed2-6fae1a600ad5.png?v=1788147624","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100009752-secondhand-china-but-not-cathay","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}