comparisons of attitudes and behaviours in Urban China in the midst of transition with highly marketised Taiwan. The result is a solid and satisfying study of China's urban people in the midst of market transformation, capturing peoples' reactions as old socialist, communitarian contracts are replaced by more individualistic, market social contracts.
In addition to the breadth of the areas covered, the authors give voice to people of all ยฎelds of urban life, including workers, civil servants, intellectuals and women about their experience at home and at work. Another commendable feature is the overall coherence of the book, with each individual chapter providing excellent overviews and conclusions for anyone interested in Chinese studies.
Two minor reservations can be made here. First, although published in 2000, the data generally refers to the period before 1992. Second, although touched upon by the authors, the issue of regional differences in China merits further elaboration. `China is not a single space but rather a series of regions which, in terms of transport and communications, are being linked more closely whilst in other ways they are growing apart. Although they share many of the same problems, they have different characteristics: the ageing north-east, the sedate Bohai Sea Rim, the thrusting Shanghai, the adolescent south-east, and the inchoate inland' (Linge, 1997: 206). Capturing degrees of difference is not an easy task, but in this vast country of unbalanced development, people's response to the changes can be very different.
Despite these reservations, the book remains a great contribution to our better understanding of Chinese urban life under reform. All in all this is an enjoyable, stimulating and rewarding book, whether used as a textbook or as a book that specialists in Chinese Studies will refer to. I would have no hesitation in recommending the book to undergraduates and fellow researchers alike.