iron and silk book?

Question

where are the major 'walls' in iron and silk by mark salzman... like physical (the walls surounding the forigen compound, and mental like cultures and customs?

Answer 1

some ideas from Salzman's book Iron and Silk

Salzman reveals the qualities, problems and arrogance of the nation's bureaucracy that caused issues during his travels; he had difficulty travailing throughout the nation, ordering medicine for his Athlete's foot, he was treated as the honored guest; eating before some of the family. He found what appears to be a societal paradigm: many aspects of Chinese life and customs consistently show a preference for rote completion of rituals,
no longer internalizing the actual meaning or significance of those rituals. This is reflected by the unnecessary bureaucratic proceedings and also in the attitudes of the people Salzman meets. These people were consistently overly friendly to complete strangers and yet kept distance with relatives and friends. One aspect of the political structure that struck me as odd is that necessity to have people whisper secrets to avoid waking the dragon of a system and censorship.

this book though published in 1989 is still used as a reference for Chinese life and customs