The New Travels of Marco Polo: Hans in Zhejiang

THE BOOK

As a thriving and competitive province in China, Zhejiang has a population of 56 million, ranking 10th among provinces in the country, but the household disposable income of Zhejiang is far ahead of that in other provinces, except for Beijing and Shanghai. There are no other provinces with more Mercedes and BMWs than Zhejiang, which might be a proof of its strong economy.

Hundreds of years ago, the famous Venetian traveler Marco Polo praised Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, as “the most splendid city in the world.” This book has made careful observation and in-depth description of the contemporary Zhejiang from a foreigner's perspective. As a small coastal province in the eastern region, Zhejiang has made great achievements which represent China's rise in recent years, serving as an epitome of China’s vicissitudes in the past 30 years or so. The author traveled cities such as Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Ningbo, Yiwu, among others, and talked with ordinary people including taxi drivers, street repairmen and vegetable growers, so as to depict the local conditions and customs of Zhejiang.

THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hans-Wilm Schütte is one of the most widely read German authors on China. He studied Chinese history and culture in Hamburg, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. After receiving his doctoral degree from Hamburg University he held a position as assistant professor in the China department of Hamburg University, doing research also in the United States, in China, and in Japan. He is a co-founder of the Hamburg China Association, where he held the position of vice-president for many years. Several of the travel guidebooks that he wrote are bestsellers in the respective market segments. Books and articles of his have been translated into Danish, Dutch, English, French, Hungarian, Spanish, and Chinese. He co-edited Das Große China-Lexikon which appeared in an English translation under the title Brill’s Encyclopedia of China.