Alec Ash

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.

Young Lives in New China

Wish Lanterns

Con profondità letteraria e acume giornalistico, Lanterne in volo racconta la storia di sei giovani nati tra il 1985 e il 1990, parte della generazione che cambierà la Cina e il mondo, cui è impossibile non affezionarsi.Lucifer è un musicista ribelle che ondeggia tra il punk e il pop pur di diventare famoso; Mia, fashionista, classe 1990, a 17 anni si tatua un fucile AK-47 sul braccio; Dahai è figlio di un militare e sfoga la sua curiosità e la sua insoddisfazione online; Fred è figlia di un uomo del Partito e studia Scienze Politiche negli Stati Uniti; Snail deve fare i conti con un serio problema di dipendenza da videogiochi; Xiaoxiao si destreggia nell’ambiente hipster cinese, tra il suo negozio di abbigliamento e una caffetteria ricavata in un’ex sinagoga. Le loro vite, narrate dall’infanzia coccolata fino alla scrupolosa disciplina scolastica e alla lotta per trovare lavoro dopo la laurea, rappresentano la storia di centinaia di milioni di giovani cinesi (più della popolazione degli Stati Uniti) i cui sogni sono gli stessi dei giovani in tutto il mondo: lasciare la casa dei genitori, avviare una carriera, innamorarsi e costruire una famiglia. Alec Ash segue i sei personaggi e i loro sogni con empatia: sono suoi coetanei, la loro storia è anche la sua.

Lanterne in volo

Tom Pellman

Anyone who has lived in China has stories to tell. For foreigners and Chinese alike, this is a land that transforms itself every day, with something to write about on every corner. Collected in this anthology are 33 contributions, a mix of narrative non-fiction, fiction and poetry, from the writers' colony the Anthill. Together, they offer glimpses into this quicksilver country--by turns funny, touching and bizarre. Whether we stay or leave, the stories remain.

China Stories from a Writers' Colony

While We're Here

“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 "Informative and often humorous . . . Presents a refreshing range of perspectives about being twenty-something in China."—Forbes “Masterfully crafted.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “A perceptive and quietly profound book.”—Booklist, starred review "Compelling and beautifully written."—Prospect China’s new youth are the generation that will change China. Offspring of the one-child policy, with no memory of Tiananmen, they are destined to transform both their nation and the world. Understanding their motivations, dreams, and attitudes is possibly the most important gauge of China’s future direction as it plays an increasingly important role in shaping this century. China’s New Youth follows the lives of six young Chinese as they navigate their aspirations, discontents, politics, and love lives. Their stories include a netizen nationalist, a country migrant, the daughter of a Party member, a rising pop star, and a feminist entrepreneur. With intimate access to this diverse generation, Alec Ash—a young writer based in China since 2012—gives a vivid, immersive, fascinating account of young China as it comes of age. China's New Youth was originally published in hardcover until the title Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China. The new paperback edition has been updated with a new preface and afterword by the author and a new foreword by Karoline Kan.

Alec Ash

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