River Town

Fuling is a small city in the hills above the Yangtze River in Sichuan Province, in China's interior. Like many modest cities across the country, it is moving quickly toward a new kind of life. Peter Hessler became the first American to live there in more than fifty years when he arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college. His students, however, ended up teaching him as much as he taught them, showing him how much effort it takes to understand a society that works very differently from the one he grew up in.

The result is a portrait of a city trying to make sense of both where it has been and where it may be going. The narrative combines humor with reflection and a sensitive eye for everyday life.

The book won the Kiriyama Book Prize and was named a New York Times Notable Book. It is the first of three books Hessler wrote about China, followed by Oracle Bones and Country Driving.