All the same, they still illustrate something of this irresistible trend. They have widely divergent world-views and life experiences. This is a rich tapestry that represents a wide cross-section of contemporary Chinese society.

From the eye of an innocent bill of 100 Chinese Yuan, as it changes hands, a story of modern China is told.

In 1984 the authors travelled around China interviewing people to form a composite picture of the modern descendents of the Peking Man -- hence the original Chinese title of the collection, Peking Man (Beijingren).