China, alive in the bitter sea Book

In this non-fiction book, journalist Fox Butterfield describes living in China in the early 80s. It covers his own experiences as well as life stories gathered from his Chinese friends, acquaintances, and interviewees.
Pros:
-Rich detail
-Interesting stories
-Broad range of focus that gave a feel for life at many different levels of society, different locations, different ages, etc
-The book covered personal stories from The Chinese Revolution, The Great Leap Forward, and The Cultural Revolution which broadened my understanding of China's history in the 20th century

Cons:
-This is not really the book's fault, but reading it now when the information is more than 25 years old, it's hard to know how to process the information or what to do with it (I got this book for free because it is so out-of-date)
-I wasn't completely sure how much credence to give the overall picture that Butterfield painted
-The book felt a little too long and was dragging a little by the end