Wish Lanterns
Young Lives in New China
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- 5,99 €
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- 5,99 €
Publisher Description
As read on BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.
This is the generation that will change China. The youth, over 320 million of them in their teens and twenties, more than the population of the USA. Born after Mao, with no memory of Tiananmen, they are destined to transform both their nation and the world.
These millennials, offspring of the one-child policy, face fierce competition to succeed. Pressure starts young, and their road isn't easy. Their stories are also like those of young people all over the world: moving out of home, starting a career, falling in love.
Wish Lanterns follows the lives of six young Chinese. Dahai is a military child and netizen; 'Fred' is a daughter of the Party. Lucifer is an aspiring superstar; Snail a country migrant addicted to online games. Xiaoxiao is a hipster from the freezing north; Mia a rebel from Xinjiang in the far west.
Alec Ash, a writer in Beijing of the same generation, has given us a vivid, gripping account of young China as it comes of age. Through individual stories, Wish Lanterns shows with empathy and insight the challenges and dreams that will define China's future global impact.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ash (co-editor of While We're Here), a British-born journalist living in Beijing, explores differences among China's millennial generations in this fascinating book. The author follows six young Chinese from vastly different backgrounds and with even more diverse ambitions. Explaining his theme, he reports the Chinese observation that the country's rapid changes in recent decades mean that a significant generation gap opens up every three to five years. Those born in 1980 remember a pre-prosperity China, those born in 1985 wouldn't remember Tiananmen Square, and those born in 1990 take the Internet and China's global status for granted. Ash profiles three 1985 babies: Dahai, from Huber province, a "self-styled loser" from a military family; Xiaoxiao, a small business owner from the Heilongjiang province; and Fred, a party member's daughter and academic from Hainan province. He also includes Snail, born in 1987 in rural Anhui province and now addicted to online gaming; Lucifer, a pop star wannabe from Hebei province, born in 1989; and Mia, a rebellious fashion stylist born in 1990 in Xinjiang province. Ash's deeply insightful exploration paints a vivid picture of growing up in China today, and, by implication, this powerful and ever-morphing nation's future leaders.
