Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler

I know almost nothing about China. I have been reading Robert W. Strayer's 'Ways of the World: A Brief Global History' with my youngest son for his AP World History class and I admit freely that I have learned an enormous amount about the history of Asia that I had no previous knowledge of. Peter Hessler's book gives a nice, almost chatty overview of modern China and it's inhabitants, interwoven with a view of China's past.
One of the most fascinating things about China is how stable it has been over time. Especially culturally stable. The Chinese have been a world power house before and they have really not been interested in the rest of us. The European mastery of the seas since the Renaissance owes a lot to China showing no interest in pursuing that line of conquest. They have what they need, and if the rest of the world wants some of it, they can come get it.
Hessler sets up his book with a series of stories, some of them connected, some of them not. They include interactions he has had with people in China, as well as his perceptions about how the Chinese view foreigners in general and Americans specifically. It is not often a flattering portrait. We should potentially not take it personally, because the Chinese love of what is the same--they don't even much care for Chinese who do not look Chinese--Hessler befriends a Uighur, and it is a friendship of outsiders. Neither of them are accepted, and that is the beginning of the friendship.
In amongst the stories about modern China are links with China's past, which is rich and deep, but most importantly, China today is linked intrinsically with these ancient ideas and traditions. I wish the book went on, and I do recommend reading both this and Hessler's 2010 book, "Country Driving" to get a fuller sense of the China of the 21st century.