Alec Ash

Wish Lanterns is Alec Ash's first book, a work of literary nonficton published in 2016. It follows the lives of six young Chinese, born after 1985, the 'post-Tiananmen generation' of youth destined to transform both their nation and the world. These millennials, offspring of the one-child policy, face fierce competition to succeed. Their stories are also like those of young people all over the world: moving out of home, starting a career, falling in love. There is Dahai, a military child and netizen; 'Fred', a daughter of the Party; Lucifer, an aspiring superstar; Snail, a country migrant addicted to online games; Xiaoxiao, a hipster from the freezing north; and Mia, a rebel from Xinjiang in the far west. Through these narrative portraits, Wish Lanterns shows with empathy and insight the challenges and dreams that will define China's global impact.

BUY THE BOOK

UK edition (Amazon) or from publisher (Picador, 2016)

US edition (Amazon) or from publisher (Arcade, 2017)

US paperback (retitled China's New Youth, 2020)

Audiobook (Amazon/Blackstone Audio)

SELECTED PRAISE

"Wish Lanterns announces the arrival of a talented young observer of today’s China. Alec Ash documents the lives of Chinese millennials with detail, insight, and sympathy, and his book is an invaluable resource for anybody hoping to understand the country’s future possibilities"

Peter Hessler, author of River Town

"Alec Ash has given something miraculous: a living, breathing portrait of China’s future—and, thus, a portrait of the world’s future. Deeply reported, and alive with the full complications of truth, Ash’s chronicle of young lives in China will endure"

Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition

"Alec Ash's book has opened a window in the wall between China and the west for us to see the hopes and fears of these young Chinese who are struggling to build their lives in a world that their parents could never dream of"

Xinran, author of The Good Women of China

"A beautiful and thoughtful book about the life of young people in China. Alec Ash has succeeded in giving us an intimate and complex portrait of the one child generation. I enthusiastically recommend you to read it"

Xiaolu Guo, author of I Am China


REVIEWS

Wall Street Journal – Howard French

Washington Post – John Pomfret

Financial Times – Jonathan Fenby

Prospect – Rana Mitter

Standpoint – Graham Hutchings

South China Morning Post

LA Review of Books

That's Beijing

The Nanfang

Bookish Asia

HK Magazine

City Weekend

AUTHOR Q&As

New York Times – with Ian Johnson (中文版)

Wall Street Journal – with Teping Chen

Forbes Asia

The Diplomat

Young China Watchers

Bookish Asia

Smart Shanghai

Oxford Today

That's Shanghai

The Beijinger

World of Chinese

Why I Write

Il Libraio (Italian)

EXCERPTS

Preface (on Chinese youth, at SupChina)

Xiaoxiao (on childhood, at Picador)

Dahai (on netizens, at Lit Hub)

Fred (on politics, at ChinaFile)

Snail (on internet gaming, at Anthill)

Lucifer (on reality TV, at Anthill)

Mia (on generation gaps, at LARB)

PODCAST APPEARANCES

Sinica (and again)

Barbarians at the Gate

PRI: Whose Century Is It?

Council of Foreign Relations

Intrepid Times

AUDIO

BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week (archived on Soundcloud)

VIDEO

WildChina book talk

ChinaFile book intro

TEDx Beijing (also on Youku)

BOOK TALKS

London, Oct 5 2016: Asia House, London

Cheltenham, Oct 7 2016: Cheltenham literary festival

London, Oct 13 2016: Westminster University

Oxford, Oct 14 2016: Oxford China Centre

Hong Kong, Nov 11 2016: Hong Kong literary festival

Shanghai, Mar 11 2017: Shanghai literary festival

Beijing, Apr 11 2017: Beijing Bookworm

Zurich, Jan 31 2018: Asia Society Switzerland

Milan, Feb 2 2018: Confucius Institute

FOREIGN EDITIONS

German (Die Einzelkinder)

Italian (Lanterne in Volo)

Catalan (Senyals de Llum)

Korean (link tk)

PHOTOS

Beijing book launch, with live music from Lucifer

Beijing Bookworm talk, with Christina Larson

Shanghai Literary Festival, with Mia

TEDx Beijing talk (see videos above)

Asia Society Switzerland talk, Zurich

cover

A BBC Book of the Week

"A talented young observer of today’s China" – Peter Hessler

"Lyrical ... a telling portrait" – Washington Post

"Alive with the full complications of truth" – Evan Osnos

"Compelling and beautifully written" – Prospect