Voices of reason Maxin Mathew, TNN | Sep 28, 2014, 06.35AM IST inShare Four women with strong opinions – an Alternative Nobel-winning Pakistani human rights activist, the first woman chief justice of the Delhi High Court, a celebrity Indian author and columnist and a former rocket factory workerturned Chinese journalist – left the audience in… Continue reading A piece on Times of India about Bangalore Literature Festival

A shorter version of this article was published in South China Morning Post on 27 Sept. China’s Spitting Image By Lijia Zhang I smile to myself, just to think that I, a former spitting champion, should write a piece about manners, (or rather lack of them), among the Chinese. Back in the 80s’ when I… Continue reading China’s Spitting Image

Cottage Trouble It was a romantic idea – to buy a country house outside Beijing, to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Back in 1999, my friend Carrie, BBC’s then bureau chief, and her then Chinese husband, bought a charming place in a lovely village named Daolingjiang in the Ming Tombs area. I… Continue reading the trouble with my cottage – a common story

I’ll be heading to India next week for Bangalore literature festival. One of my sessions will be with Justic Leila Seth, India’s first woman chief justice, and the mother of Indian’s literary star Vikram Seth, the author of A Suitable Boy. I had the pleasure of meeting the justice, a powerful, spirited character, back in… Continue reading A remarkable panelist in Bangalore literature festival

http://www.gatewayhouse.in/preparing-for-the-chinese-indian-century/ Preparing for theChinese-Indiancentury Contrary to conventional wisdom, the positives outweigh the negatives in theIndia-Chinarelationship. Both countries share a common opportunity to grow their economies exponentially and much will depend on the tone set by Prime Minister Modi and President Xi when they meet in Delhi in September Gateway House By Kishore Mahbubani 4 September… Continue reading China-India Century?

Misunderstanding China http://online.wsj.com/articles/misunderstanding-china-1410972607 How did Western policy makers and academics repeatedly get China so wrong? By MICHAEL PILLSBURY The Wall Street Journal Sept. 17, 2014 12:50 p.m. ET On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China while standing atop Beijing’s Gate of Heavenly Peace. In the decades that… Continue reading an interesting article about misunderstanding China

Sex in China: An Interview with Li Yinhe Ian Johnson NYRBLOG Imaginechina/Corbis Gay couple Lu Zhong, 24, and Liu Wangqiang, 20, during a wedding photo shoot, Fujian province, China, September 2012 Li Yinhe is one of China’s best-known experts on sex and the family. A member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, she has… Continue reading Sex in China – Ian Johnson’s interview with Li Yinghe

COMMENT›INSIGHT & OPINION Lack of school support for China’s migrant children a crying shame Lijia Zhang says the social and emotional costs of keeping families separated are too high to bear PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 September, 2014, 3:17pm UPDATED : Monday, 15 September, 2014, 11:38pm Lijia Zhang Most Popular · Students pose for a photo… Continue reading my oped in today’s South China Morning Post about China’s left-behind children

Last week, the author of best-selling River Town was in town to promote his new book "Strange Stones", which has just been published in Chinese. I had the pleasure of meeting him for a drink, amid his packed schedule of book talks and interviews. I’ve known Pete for years. I passed a column in HK… Continue reading Peter Hessler and his “strong stones”

Yesterday, I had the honour to introduce the keynote speaker Professor Julianne Schultz, a famous Australian academic, author and public intellectual, at the annual conference organized by the Foundation for Australian Studies in China. As usual, I added personal touch by mentioning that I had actually had the pleasure of meeting her a few years… Continue reading The Uses of Culture