‘Dit is ook China’ by Cindy Zhu Huijgen isn’t a perfect book. And yet it’s enjoyable, and when you turn the last page and close it, you’re — rather than feeling relieved — you’re just glad you read it, and you’re glad you’re a person who reads books.

Before starting, I was a bit discouraged by some of the reviews on Goodreads, which noted that the author jumps from topic to topic. I can see what they mean, but I think it comes down to the nature of the book. It tries to do several things at once: explain China, tell the author’s personal story, and add separate parts such as COVID. These threads don’t always hold together, but it’s fine. I like Zhu Huijgen’s style; casual, personal — in plain words. And as a Dutch person who lived in China for eight years, I recognised lots. The book also shows parts of China that rarely make it into the news we read every day, and her perspective as a woman gave me new angles as well. Plus the author balances the positive and negative about China well.

What I liked most is her personal search. This builds up in the back of the book, when she’s in Guiyang, looking for her biological parents, and I feel this could be a whole (even better) book on its own. I think therein lies a message beyond this book as well. Whatever we make, it should always relate to us personally, and be something only we can make.