Lijia Zhang's Blog, page 17

In a German newspaper

I appeared in a local newspaper in Dortmund. Not a German speaker, I don’t know what the article talks about, but I heard that I was described as a ‘fascinating woman’. Well, that made my day!

Spy princess

This evening, I went to the Imperial War Museum to listen to a talk titled Spy Princess by my Indian writer friend Shrabani Basu. Shrabani wrote a hugely successful book about this spy princess Noor Inayat Khan. A daughter of an Indian prince, Khan became a British agent and was the first female wireless operator to be sent from the UK to the occupied France during the Second World War and one of the most successful one. An eloquent speaker, Shrabani brought the inspiring story to life.

The talk is in conjuncture with the exhibition about spies at the museum. The spy prince is part of the exhibition. Fascinating.

Another bonus was that it was fun to wander around the museum with few people around.

pronatalist policies and individual rights

Amid the plummeting birthrate, the Chinese authorities are promoting pronatalist policies that have a coercive tinge. As the Chinese people are more aware of their rights, I doubt such an approach would work.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239780/marriage-and-babies-maybe-china-should-listen-its-citizens

Düsseldorf

My Event in Dusseldorf

My last event in Germany took place in Dusseldorf, a short train ride south of Dortmund, upon the invitation of the Sino-German Friendship Association. I was interviewed on stage by its senior member Susanne, a sinologist who lived in China and was married to a Chinese. It was a pleasure to chat with someone who knows China intimately well, and I was delighted to see a few Chinese faces among the audience.

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/