The Chinese Dream

Editorial Reviews Super!

Review

"In a mere two decades China has developed the world's largest middle class. Helen Wang tells that story - and her own - in this wonderfully informative and readable book." --Joseph Nye, Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University, the author of The Future of Power.

“… the most insightful voice that accurately captures the China of today – its promise and peril – … have a sense of the country’s past, but an equally vibrant vision for its future.“ - Asia Time Online “The growth of China’s middle class rivals the growth of China’s overall economy as a phenomenon with huge implications for the entire world. Whether China will become a more liberal and democratic society, … whether it will develop a spiritual power to match its material influence — these and other questions are Helen Wang’s topic in this fascinating book. It rings true to what I have seen in China and suggests new possibilities.” --James Fallows, National Correspondent of The Atlantic, the author of Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China.

"The Chinese Dream offers a fascinating look at one of the most dynamic forces shaping our world today. ... A truly valuable read ..." --Gady Epstein, Beijing Bureau Chief, Forbes

"... An unusual book, very readable and full of insight." --John Quelch, Professor at Harvard Business School and former Dean of London Business School

"Helen Wang takes us through the world of China's middle class with riveting personal stories,... A must-read..." --Shaun Rein, Founder and Managing Director of China Market Research Group (CMR)

“The Chinese Dream tells one of the most important stories of our time – the rise of the world’s largest middle class. Helen Wang enlightens us with the possibility of ‘unity in diversity’. A comprehensive, and yet easy to read book about modern China.”- Ken Wilcox, Chief Executive Officer, Silicon Valley Bank

In The Chinese Dream, a groundbreaking book about the rising middle class in China, Forbes columnist, consultant, and China expert Helen Wang challenges us to recognize that some of our fears about China are grossly misplaced. As a result of China's new capitalist paradigm, a burgeoning middle class-calculated to reach 800 million within the next fifteen years-is jumping aboard the consumerism train and riding it for all it's worth-a reality that may provide the answer to America's economic woes. And with China's increasing urbanization and top-down governmental approach, it now faces increasing energy, environmental, and health problems-problems that the U.S. can help solve. Through timely interviews, personal stories, and a historical perspective, China-born Wang takes us into the world of the Chinese entrepreneurial middle class to show how a growing global mindset and the realization of unity in diversity may ultimately provide the way to creating a saner, safer world for all.

• Deconstructs the myths about China as a superpower and global manufacturing power
• Takes us into the world of the driven middle class and shows how the not-so-private sector operates
• Provides a historical perspective on China and examines the possibility of democracy in China's future
• Shows how a mindset that embraces the idea of unity in diversity could help solve China and America's growing energy, health, and environmental problems

Through this eye-opening book, Wang widens our understanding of China today and shows how this new class of upwardly mobile young people, who have modern ambitions and a growing global consciousness, are beginning to drive China toward a new and different future.

To gain a clear view of the impact of this new middle class, Wang provides us with interviews of executives of foreign-owned firms, connected Communist party members, rural migrants who are seeing their dreams of a better life come to fruition, and young entrepreneurs who are becoming increasingly westernized, consuming as fast as the money pours in. She also provides us with a careful analysis of the social and political forces at work in society, as she takes us on a journey to many places in China that reflect her own life-changing experiences.