Country Driving [220]
This is a work of nonfiction, and I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible. I haven’t deliberately changed events, details, or chronology; any errors are accidental. I used real names throughout the book, with the exception of Wei Jia’s elementary school classmates; the names of those children were changed.
This book was researched from 2001 to 2009, and during this time some important figures changed significantly. China’s total number of migrants, as estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics, grew from 89.61 million in 2001 to 132.12 million in 2006. Today most experts believe the figure to be over 140 million. But these statistics should be considered rough estimates, given the difficulty of tracking and even defining migrants.
Currency exchange rates also changed during this eight-year period, so I have not used a flat rate for dollar conversions throughout this book. Instead I calculated them according to the exchange rate at the time of the reference.
BOOK I: THE WALL
Part I
almost a thousand new drivers: According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the number of registered automobile drivers in Beijing increased by 300,000 in 2001.
223. If you come to a road: Chinese driving laws are national, and they are listed in the “Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Jiaotong Anquan Fa” [“The People’s Republic of China Traffic Safety Laws”]. Driving examinations are similar from place to place, but there are slight regional variations. I researched training methods and testing in the city of Lishui, in Zhejiang Province. The Lishui Public Safety Traffic Bureau provided me with a copy of their official study booklet, which lists questions that appear on the exam. The study booklet is entitled “Lishui Shi Qiche Jiashiren: Like Peixun Fuxi Ziliao” [“Lishui City Automobile Drivers: Scientific Training Review Materials”]. All quoted exam questions come from this study booklet.
“The Chinese Automobile Driver’s Book of Maps”:
Zhongguo Qiche Siji Dituce. Beijing: Zhongguo Ditu Chubanshe [Sinomaps], 2001.
By 1931, more than two dozen places: For background on how the Chinese converted ancient city walls into roads:
Campanella, Thomas J. “‘The Civilising Road’: American Influence on the Development of Highways and Motoring in China, 1900–1949.” The Journal of Transport History 26, no. 1 (March 2005): pp. 78–98.
modernizers turned their attention to the Great Wall: For the Chinese plan to convert the Great Wall into a highway:
Lei Sheng. “Changcheng Zhu Lu Zhi Feiwu Liyong” [Using Waste Material to Build a Road on the Great Wall]. Shenbao Qiche Zengkan [Shenbao Automobile Supplement] 76 (May 12, 1923): pp. 2–3.
Liu Huru. “Changcheng” [Great Wall]. Xuesheng Zazhi [Students’ Magazine] 18, no. 3 (March 1931): pp. 75–76.
the Ming dynasty avoided building the Great Wall: For the influence of feng shui beliefs on wall construction near the Ming tombs:
Hong Feng. “Longquan Yu Zhi Shifo Si Duan Bian Chengyin Tijie” [Notes on Contributing Factors to the Lack of Great Wall From Longquan Valley to Stone Buddha Temple]. Zhongguo Changcheng Bowuguan [China Great Wall Museum] 21, no. 1 (2006): pp. 52–63.
The first major construction campaign: For the history of the American Red Cross road-building campaign, see the article by Thomas J. Campanella: Ibid.
similar to the United States in 1911: According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there were 9,939,600 passenger vehicles in 2001; this figure includes cars and buses, but not trucks. According to The Statistical History of the United States, there were 618,727 registered automobiles in 1911, for a ratio of 152 people for every car. By 1912, it had dropped to 106. (There were no registered buses at that time.)
there isn’t a single scholar at any university in the world who specializes in the Great Wall: Arthur Waldron, now at the University of Pennsylvania, researched the Great Wall during the early part of