Book Review: Unsavory Elements

The name of this book – and title of its final essay – is taken from an unofficial Chinese term for foreigners, conjuring up an image of badly-behaved foreign undesirables, intent on causing trouble and indulging in illicit excess. In reality, the 28 writers in this collection of real-life stories about China are mostly anything but. Unsavory Elements features a range of diverse experiences in the Middle Kingdom, from being outhustled by locals in quirky business ventures to sneaking onto trains to get from Xinjiang to Hong Kong, to working in an orphanage with disabled children.