Sometime vehement explosions of nationalism have worried both the outside world, and the Chinese government. But today, nationalism is in decline, notes China-watcher Kaiser Kuo in SupChina. “I’m coming around to the view that we’ve exaggerated its proportions and the dangers it poses.”Read More →
In China most women enter the prostitution on their own free will. The government is criminalizing them, forcing them into a submissive position. What can be done? Author Zhang Lijia of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution researched the sex trade in China, and possible solutions and discusses government approaches.Read More →
The long anticipated book The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao by journalist Ian Johnson will hit the shelves in April and May, and is followed by an intensive book tour, mostly along academic institutions in the US and China. Read More →
The leading Chinese magazine Caixin interviews author Zhang Lijia about her book Lotus: A Novel about prostitution in China. “Prostitutes are real people, and I wanted to expose that. Like any job, there are drawbacks. But their lives are not totally bleak either.”Read More →
Author Zhang Lijia of the much-acclaimed book Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China discusses with Eric Fish on the weblog of the Asia Society how Chinese women end up in this trade. While triggered off by inequality, it is a way to improve their lives, she says.Read More →
Commentator Dan Southerland of Radio Free Asia is clearly touched by the moving book Lotus: A Novel by Zhang Lijia on the life of prostitutes in China. “An uplifting book on a sad subject,” he says about the book.Read More →
Author Zhang Lijia of the recently published Lotus: A Novel is a native from Nanjing, but writes in English. Writing in her chosen language makes her feel more free, she explains in an interview with Mengfei Chen of the LA Review of Books.Read More →
More reviews are coming in of author Zhang Lijia´s Lotus: A Novel, about prostitution in China, this time from the NPR. The reviewer is rightfully impressed. “We can count ourselves lucky to get this glimpse into the fascinating world of Lotus.”Read More →
The story of her grandmother, first a prostitute, then a concubine, triggered author Zhang Lijia´s into writing her latest book Lotus: A Novel. With meticulous research she explored the life of today´s sex workers, and tells in Refinery29, how a middle-class lady explored a secret world.Read More →
One remarkable conclusion by author Zhang Lijia of Lotus: A Novel on sex work in China is her conclusion that prostitution in China is largely a free choice, where women are free to enter, and free to leave. Yes, there is economic pressure, but no organized crime or human trafficking on a major scale, she says.Read More →
First reviews of journalist Zhang Lijia´s touching Lotus: A Novel, are coming in, like here from the Star Tribune, focusing on the Chinese migrants, the unsung heroes who made the country´s economic development possible. “Lotus and Bing, as well as the secondary characters, feel like real, rounded human beings. Zhang portrays them compassionately.”Read More →
The sudden death of George Michael triggered off found memories in Beijing, where Michael´s band Wham! was one of the first to hit the stage after China started to open up in the 1980s. “They certainly had in impact on China, says Kaiser Kuo, now himself a rock legend in China, to Reuters.Read More →