Sonia M Chen

China Changing in My Eyes: People, Schools and Landscapes Sonia M Chen

China Changing In My Eyes: People, Schools and Landscapes is written from the unique perspective of a high school student, Sonia M Chen. Sonia visited China six times between 1996 and 2007. Her observations, through the use of interviews and travel to places within China, were well documented. Sonia portrayed the life journeys of a group of ordinary Chinese people, including her family and acquaintances, which range in age from five to 95, bear the marks of remarkable changes in China for the past 100 years, especially over the past three decades. She acutely captures distinct differences in school systems and educational approaches between both countries, using her own experiences in the US and her keen observations in China. She also vividly describes the landscapes that she visited, like the Yuanmingyuan, the Three Gorges of Yangtze River, the Giant Panda Reserve and Institute, or southwestern hilly city, Chongqing, which signaled China's physical transformation and rapid modernization. Overall, from her stories, readers can see a window of China and realize how China is becoming a dynamic, modern country where change and perseverance exist side by side.