Wish Lanterns
Young Lives in New China
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- 19,99 €
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- 19,99 €
Publisher Description
“Ash’s book paints a telling portrait of this most restless generation raised in a system that has provided them with unprecedented personal opportunities while denying them political ones . . . A gifted observer.”—Washington Post
If China will rule the world one day, who will rule China? There are more than 320 million Chinese between the ages of sixteen and thirty. Children of the one-child policy, born after Mao, with no memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre, they are the first net native generation to come of age in a market-driven, more international China. Their experiences and aspirations were formed in a radically different country from the one that shaped their elders, and their lives will decide the future of their nation and its place in the world.
Wish Lanterns offers a deep dive into the life stories of six young Chinese. Dahai is a military child, netizen, and self-styled loser. Xiaoxiao is a hipster from the freezing north. “Fred,” born on the tropical southern island of Hainan, is the daughter of a Party official, while Lucifer is a would-be international rock star. Snail is a country boy and Internet gaming addict, and Mia is a fashionista rebel from far west Xinjiang. Following them as they grow up, go to college, find work and love, all the while navigating the pressure of their parents and society, Wish Lanterns paints a vivid portrait of Chinese youth culture and of a millennial generation whose struggles and dreams reflect the larger issues confronting China today.
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.
