In this "equally beguiling sequel to his acclaimed memoir" ( ), teenager Da Chen takes his first train ride away from the farm he was raised on to his new university life in Beijing. He soon faces a host of ghastly challenges, including poor living conditions, lack of food, and suicidal roommates. Undaunted by these hurdles, and armed with a dogged determination to learn English and "all things Western," he competes to win a chance to study in America—a chance that rests in the shrewd and corrupt hands of the almighty professors. Poetic, hilarious, and heartbreaking, is a gloriously written coming-of-age saga that chronicles a remarkable journey—a travelogue of the heart.