When people who have not been in China for ten or more years return, they are usually astounded by the wealth, liveliness, and even chaos that characterizes contemporary urban life, particularly in the southern coastal cities. This introduction to contemporary Chinese urban life examines how reforms have changed not only the material circumstances of daily life, but also the overall well-being of urban residents. Although the author focuses on life in a single city - Guangzhou (Canton), China's sixth-largest city - the changes described reflect national policies that apply to a greater or...

How have rapid industrial development and the aging of the population affected the expression of filial piety in East Asia? Eleven experienced fieldworkers take a fresh look at an old idea, analyzing contemporary behavior, not norms, among both rural and urban families in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Each chapter presents rich ethnographic data on how filial piety shapes the decisions and daily lives of adult children and their elderly parents. The authors' ability to speak the local languages and their long-term, direct contact with the villagers and city dwellers they studied lend an...