Peter Hessler is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he served as the Beijing correspondent from 2000 to 2007, and is also a contributing writer for National Geographic. He is the author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, which won the Kiriyama Book Prize, and Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China’s Past and Present, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He won the 2008 National Magazine Award for excellence in reporting. His most recent book is Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory.