Lijia Zhang's Blog, page 34
April 27, 2018
April 23, 2018
March 27, 2018
my oped in NYT on China’s left behind children
After all these years, the thrill of seeing a published article hasn’t vanished. I am particularly proud of this one as I feel passionate about the issue.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/opinion/china-left-behind-children.html
March 13, 2018
Moderating a session on women in honor of Swiss State Secretary
On the occassion of the visit by the Swiss Secretary of State Pascale Baeriswyl, the Swiss Embassy in Beijing organized a panel discussion on women. I had the pleasure and the honour to be the moderator of the panel. Apart from the Madam Secretary of State, the other panelists were Julie Brousard, the head of UN Wmen, Pauline Houl, a successful executive from the private sector, Wei Xiaogang, a man from a NGO in Beijing focusing on gender and sexuality and Lu Manman, who works for the Feminist Voice, a NGO in Beijing. Great discussion and enthusiastic audience. I am delighted that it went so well!
March 10, 2018
Bookworm event
Last night, our event at Bookworm entitled “Let’s Not Talk about Sex” went swimmingly. The panelists included young feminist rapper Zhang Jiugu, writer editor James Palmer, myself and moderatedly skillfully by journalist Robert F. Hunwich. It was filled with interesting and insightful annecodotes about sex, changing sexual attitude and dating practice, which made the audience laugh so hard that it threatened to lift up the roof! Before the session, I was worried that Jiugu might be shy and quiet. Withint one minute, we learnt about her sexual awakening at 11 and masturbation at 13! so refreshingly open!
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发自我的 iPhone
March 9, 2018
March 8, 2018
March 3, 2018
a well-educated bag lady
I just finished reading this powerful and tragic story about a bag lady in New York. It brought tears to my eyes.
It very much reminded me the Indian bag lady Savita whom I met in Pondicherry back in 2009.
One afternoon in Pondicherry, a charming French colonial settlement on the east coast, I saw a bag lady in her 50s sitting on the steps of an elegant building, not far from my hotel in the French quarter. There are always beggars/homeless people around in India. But what made this one stood out was her cleanness and her dignity and the fact that she was absorbed in reading a book – Floral Thompson’s Lark Rise to Candleford, a Penguin classic. so intrigued, I stopped to walk with her. And it turned out that she was well-spoken. I ended up taking her out for dinner, with her bags and cooking pots. Over a French dinner, I learnt her sad story. She was from a middle up class Indian family and had a good education. But her involvement with a married man, and later with a cult, and perhaps her stubbon personality led to a troubled life. After the death of her mother, her brothers kicked her out of the family home without sharing any of the parents wealth.
In the NYT piece, Kesha, the New York bag lady, was lucky in a way because she had a few people who cared for her.
I wonder where is Savita now. Hope she’s met people who care for her, too.
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