Chapter 10 is a (very) brief account of another protest by Falun Gong demonstrators. Everyone plays their part, the Falun Gong turned jiade tourists, the reporters turned jiade tourists as well, and the poorly dressed, plained clothes police. Short yet sober, the account helps to demonstrate the censorship in China after anti-cult laws.
Chapter 11 conveys the hardships of migrant workers, who moved from undeveloped, backwards interior provinces to the east, where experimental economies produced boomtowns. Migrants were often vilified by locals, alienated far away from home. A common trend is for migrants to endure these hardships while sending money back to their family in poor provinces. Willy, a former student of Hessler, is one such migrant worker who uses his studies in English as a distraction to the alienation. This dovetails nicely into a discussion on the education system in China's growing boomtowns. Private education is very popular, although not immune to corruption. Administrations often pays bribes to get answers on large, standardized tests.
An interesting note was a craze for English-teaching competitions, where instructors competed to teach students English. Willy ended up winning and was the only competitor not to use a computer. It's baffling to think that a culture would be so engrossed with education and meanwhile in America shows like "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" exist. O well...
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