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River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze - Bilingual quotes that celebrate the beauty of language, showcasing meaningful expressions in two unique perspectives.

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze - Bilingual quotes that celebrate the beauty of language, showcasing meaningful expressions in two unique perspectives.

"River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze" is a memoir by Peter Hessler that chronicles his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small Chinese town along the Yangtze River. The book provides a vivid depiction of life in China in the late 1990s, showcasing the cultural exchanges and challenges Hessler faced while adapting to a different way of life. His observations include the complexities of modern China, including education, politics, and the rapid changes occurring in society.

Hessler's narrative not only focuses on his personal journey but also highlights the relationships he forms with local residents. His interactions with students and townspeople reveal the rich tapestry of Chinese culture and the impact of globalization. The author skillfully balances his own experiences with insightful reflections on the broader social and cultural dynamics at play in China during a time of significant transition.

Through his engaging storytelling, Hessler captures the beauty and difficulties of living in a foreign land. "River Town" is both a poignant personal account and a broader commentary on the complexities of contemporary China, making it an enlightening read for anyone interested in cross-cultural experiences and global changes. The book ultimately emphasizes the importance of understanding and connecting with people from different backgrounds.

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Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.
by Mitch Albom
All our human endeavours are like that, she reflected, and it is only because we are too ignorant to realize it, or are too forgetful to remember it, that we have the confidence to build something that is meant to last.
by Alexander McCall Smith
The value of money is subjective, depending on age. At the age of one, one multiplies the actual sum by 145,000, making one pound seem like 145,000 pounds to a one-year-old. At seven – Bertie's age – the multiplier is 24, so that five pounds seems like 120 pounds. At the age of twenty four, five pounds is five pounds; at forty five it is divided by 5, so that it seems like one pound and one pound seems like twenty pence. {All figures courtesy of Scottish Government Advice Leaflet: Handling your Money.}
by Alexander McCall Smith
In fact, none of us knows how he ever managed to get his LLB in the first place. Maybe they're putting law degrees in cornflakes boxes these days.
by Alexander McCall Smith
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins.
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Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.
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You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.
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we get so many lives between birth and death. A life to be a child. A life to come of age. A life to wander, to settle, to fall in love, to parent, to test our promise, to realize our mortality-and, in some lucky cases, to do something after that realization.
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But an ink brush, she thinks, is a skeleton key for a prisoner's mind.
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Where there's bluster, thinks Luisa, there's duplicity
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