The man who also loved China
Updated: 2014-07-02 07:31
By Hu Haiyan (China Daily)
|
||||||||
Chinese contemporary literature now a hit in South Korea |
Chinese women crave Tanbi lit |
Some academics argue that many Chinese writers well-known in the West now live outside China and wrote their books long ago, and that this hinders Western understanding of China. But Winchester thinks too much is made of the academic view of China.
"I am a great believer in a boots-on-the-ground approach to recording life in China and feel more academics should leave their ivory towers and head for the streets and the villages."
His first visit to China was a little more than 30 years ago as a reporter, when the then British foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe, traveled to the country to take part in preliminary talks on the future of Hong Kong.
"I was struck back then by the dusty quietness of the city we called Peking," Winchester says. "Of the tens of thousands of cyclists, all pedaling as one along the great streets of the capital, and the monochrome nature of the city, gray skies and blue clothes."
Two friends working in Beijing as translators and interpreters, Yang Xianyi and his wife Gladys Yang, introduced him to hutong life and some of the hidden delights of the capital.
He soon fell under China's spell, and it is a passion that endures to date, he says.
- Star Stefanie Sun holds concert in Beijing
- Faye Wong's manager refutes star's drug rumors
- Lu Yi and daughter Bei Er pose for street snaps
- Photoshoots of actress Li Xiaomeng
- Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards
- Fan Bingbing, first Chinese actress in Barbie Hall of Fame
- Awarding ceremony of 2014 hito Pop Music held in Taipei
- Zhao Liying's photo shoot for Children's Day
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Xi attends BRICS summit |
China helps fight international war on drugs |
Crackdown on terrorist attacks |
My China Story: Meeting the master |
Tongues tied around tatu-bola |
A market that's not such a hot property |
Today's Top News
Ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang under probe
Prudence urged over solar dispute
US visa delays likely to continue
McDonald's fishing for supplier
OSI group to fund food safety
China's FDI in US set for increase
Glitch delays visas for US-bound students
A musical spoof of the Clinton years
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |