Lijia Zhang's Blog, page 14

Dortmund Story

The Story of Dortmund Dortmund may not be the most beautiful city inGermany but it has turned out to be the most enjoyable experience in Germanyfor me. Located in North Rhine-Westphalia, it is the third largest city after Cologneand Dusseldorf, which I also visited. What’s special about Dortmund? You mayask. Well, the human interaction. I camehere upon a German teacher friend’s invitation to talk to her school. Theyoffered me the choice: of staying at a hotel or staying with a retired Englishteacher Eva who loves English and English literature. Of course, I chose to staywith Eva and her husband in their lovely home on the outskirts. On the firstday of my arrival, Eva cooked a German feast, attended by Patricia, hercolleague Melanie and her partner. Fuelled by good food and wine, we were allin high spirits, talking and laughing the evening away, as if we were all oldfriends. Thefollowing day, after my talk, the three ladies took me to the beautifulcountryside for the sightseeing, which I shall bore you later. Thecity itself does have a few things to offer. It is famous for its beer,football, and steel. The steel plant Dortmund-Hoorde, once upon a time a leadingsteelmaker, used to dominate the city with its flame and smell. Due to itsrising production and environmental costs, it was sold extremely cheaply to China’sShagang Group. Some 1,000 Chinese workers were sent over. Over the course of oneyear, they painstakingly dismantled the plant, packed up the useful partsand took them back to China. These days, tourists can sign up for a guided tourto see the remaining of the steel factory. Thecity center is dominated by The U-Tower, or Dortmund U, a former brewery building,now a center for arts and entertainment. Othernoteworthy sights are the old square and the town hall, frequented by rhinos withwings. Dortmund may be China’s Shijiazhuang, but I am delighted that I have come.

Giving a talk to a German school

Greetings from Dortmund

When I told a German friend that I was heading to Dortmund, he laughed and said: Dortmund is China’s equivalent of Shijiazhuang 石家庄, an uninspiring industrial city. (Actually, Dortmund turned out to be much better than expected.) What brought me here was to give a talk at a state school called Europaschule, upon the invitation of my wonderful German friend Patricia. A journalist-turned teacher and linguist, Patricia teaches English and Spanish, among other topics, at the school.
The event went down like a storm. It consisted of two parts: my talk, followed by a panel discussion about the importance of learning foreign languages, participated by a British gentleman who heads the Angolo-German Friend Association and who has written books about using humor in education as well as some super-smart students – one Greek girl can already speak 6 or 7 languages. Experienced in speaking to young people, I used simple language and humour to tell my story. Having prepared for the event, the students, aged from 17 – 19, asked interesting questions, such as the social credit system and the pressured faced by Chinese students. We had a lively dialogue. I was impressed by the students’ English level. (Patricia said most students could get 80% of what I said). She also said the fact that some students asked to take photos with me showed how much they enjoyed it. I was thrilled to hear this. If I could inspire even just one or two students to learn, then the trip was well worth it.

Frankfurt book fair

My Event at Frankfurt Book Fair

My memoir “Socialism is Great!” has just come in German, which was why I have been invited to the Book Fair.

My event was very successful. Set in a large room, we had enough people, Chinese, German and people from other parts of the world, in the audience. My publisher Nora, who interviewed me on stage, asked me thoughtful questions. As always, I enjoyed the attention. In good spirits, I laughed and joked and made people laugh. And we sold all the copies my publisher had brought along. (I was planning to bring the remaining copies to a German school in Dortmund where I was invited to give a talk.)

One pleasant surprise was my fellow writer Shen Yang, the wonderful author of More Than One Child, came to my event. (She intended to give me a surprise.)

My German Michaela, who I had met years ago in Beijing and who is in my Chinese book club, kindly took me to a very nice restaurant which offers authentic German cuisine. Over the dinner, we caught up, talking and laughing the whole evening. What a happy and memorable day!

A Japanese Feminist Has Become a Surprising Star Among China’s Educated Women

In Shanghai, there is a bookstore, dedicated to female writers, both Chinese and foreign. Last month, while visiting the cosmopolitan city, my niece Catherine took me there to meet the owner Xinjie, a fast-talking lawyer-turned bookseller. When I asked her who was the most popular writer, Xinjie replied without hesitation: Ueno Chizuko. The Japanese sociologist and feminist has found immense popularity among young Chinese women, especially those well-educated ones. I had indeed heard about her. Last year was the ‘year of Ueno Chizuko’ when seven of her books were translated into Chinese and published there. I can easily understand why: the gender inequality in Japan Professor Chizuko describes resonates with Chinese women.

Here’s an article explaining all about it.

https://www.japanpolicyforum.jp/society/pt2023081013524113277.html

unmarried mothers

For unmarried women to raise illegitimate children in China used to be “as difficult as climbing up the sky.” Luckily, the situations are becoming easier for them amid the plummeting birth rate. Here is why.

I interviewed Pupu Ma, or the mother of Pupu, for a new book I am working on concerning young women’s changing attitudes towards marriage and motherhood. Her life story was fascinating. She broke off with her boyfriend after she had realized that he had swindled all of her money. Being an abandoned child herself, she decided to keep the baby. Totally broke, she had to scrap a living by picking up and selling rubbish. And for a while, she lived in a rented van. She filmed her daily struggle and placed the video clips on Douying, the Chinese TikTok. Thanks to her expanding followers, she was able to make a living by selling products online. Now she can not only support herself and her baby son but also runs a sanctuary helping other unmarried mothers, one of the very few of such charities in China.

This is the first article I wrote, using the materials I have just collected from China. More to come.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3237576/how-fix-chinas-birth-rate-treat-single-mothers-same-married-ones

My interview with Julia Lovell

Here’s my interview with Julia Lovell, an award-winning academic and chief organizer of The Hidden Century exhibition at the British Museum.

https://nuvoices.com/2023/09/13/episode-103-julia-lovell-on-chinas-hidden-century-an-exhibit-at-the-british-museum/

my oped about wrong clothing that may hurt the feelings of the Chinese people

Be careful of your clothing. If you put on the wrong clothes that might the feelings of the Chinese people, you may have to pay a fine or end up in jail. Here’s why！

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234149/china-banning-clothes-hurt-national-feelings-would-be-stitch-too-far

the German edition of my memoir

Exciting news! The German edition of my memoir about my decade-long experience of working at a rocket factory in Nanjing in the 80s "Socialism is Great!" is coming out in Germany in early autumn and I have been invited to attend Frankfurt Book Fair in October. My publisher, an independent one, is launching a fund-raising. Here’s the link. Please share with people who might be interested. My heart-thanks in advance.

https://www.startnext.com/es-lebe-der-sozialismus

the passing of Isabel Crook

Isabel Crook

Isabel Crook, a Canadian educator and a great friend of China, has died aged at 107. The unbelievable thing was that this morning, for some random reason, I mentioned her to a friend as we walked on Hampstead Heath. I couldn’t remember if she was still alive or not. My friend googled her and said: “Wow, she is 107 and obviously still alive!”

In the afternoon, he messaged me, saying she has died: when he wanted to read Isabel’s Wikipedia entry properly, he found the information has changed – she has passed away.

That was a piece of very sad news. Fortunately, Isabel lived a long and inspiring life. I interviewed her several times. I first interviewed her back in the early 90s when I presented a TV documentary for Beijing TV about foreigners’ Views on Chairman Mao. Then I just kept in touch. In the late 90s, I also interviewed her for the oral history of China, co-authored with my ex-husband. The last time I saw her – perhaps a dozen years ago – she was working on her PhD! She obviously stayed active right to the end, even attending an event two days before her death! What a remarkable life!

Here’s how China Daily reported her death. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/20/WS64e212b0a31035260b81d25e.html

Anyone interested in reading her chapter in China Remembers, feel free to get in touch.

TV Drama is causing controversy in China

Sexual harassment in the workplace is prevalent in China. A TV Drama delving into the topic titled Imperfect Victim is attracting plenty of attention and causing controversy. Here’s why.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3230657/rape-victims-imperfect-or-not-are-not-blame