I just finished reading a delightful book written by Chinese journalist Karoline Kan. Her work is autobiographical, and more, since she writes also about the lives of a cousin, her parents, grandparents and great-uncle. The 300-page book is very readable, and, at the same time, very informative. I recommend it highly. Among other things, I learned that government control of internal migration began centuries ago, long before the Communist government came to power.
Here is a portion of the book that explains the migration controls. In her memoir, Ms Kan goes on to explain the effect these controls had on her, and on the lives of her parents and grandparents. (more…)