In The New York Times, Hannah Beech reviews two memoirs of home in a China that has already disappeared, “covered by layers of concrete, glass and fibre-optic cables that have tethered even the most isolated farmer to the modern age. Still, it is the journey through heady, whiplash times that helps us understand where the nation is going. If the 21st century is to be China’s era, it’s important to know how it will get there.”