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The democratic countries must courageously show a willingness to apply the principles on which their internal system is based to the global sphere

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Daniele Archibugi

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Xinran

Xinran, born in China to a privileged family in 1958, endured the hardships of the Cultural Revolution to become a prominent radio journalist, hosting the pathbreaking programme Words on the Night Breeze. She moved to London in 1997, where she teaches at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and has just written her first book, The Good Women of China.

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Listening to China's women

Chinese women 1

Xinran is the name of a Chinese broadcaster – and now author – who for eight years hosted a pioneering radio programme, Words on the Night Breeze, which featured the stories, voices and letters of ordinary women across China. In a society where any public discussion of private experience was tightly circumscribed, Xinran’s personal, inquiring and emotionally honest programme became also a means of releasing a desire among its listeners to communicate unexpected feelings.

As a working journalist, Xinran also travelled around China, following up the letters she received, exploring their stories, and gaining more insight into the lives of Chinese women of several generations and many backgrounds. In 1997, she moved to London, and from this great distance began to write about some of the women she had listened to and met. Her book, The Good Women of China, is the result. It will be published in China by the Shanghai Joint Publishing House.