Alex Colville is a freelance journalist whose work has featured in The Financial Times, The Economist, and Foreign Policy Magazine, among others. He won a SOPA Award for his work with The World of Chinese in Beijing.
As China’s national college entrance examinations begin today, we look back to 1973, four years prior to the restoration of the gaokao, when one student became a national hero for a most unconventional answer.
Zheng Yuanjie was expelled from school in fourth grade. Ever since, he has believed the Chinese education system encourages conformity rather than free-thinking, and has strived — in his beloved children's stories — to change that.
In the early days of the Chinese Communist Party, when it was struggling for survival, Zhu De marched alongside Mao Zedong. The two of them were close enough that they were often referred to as “Zhu Mao” in the countryside.
Li Ning helped usher Chinese sports onto the world stage with his performance at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. But what he's done in his second career — steering a sportswear empire — has arguably been as impactful.
Ai of Han's reign has been interpreted by historians as opening the door to court corruption and dynastic crisis. But he is remembered today mostly for a tale of passion and love.
Lin Huiyin — architect, poet, preservationist, lover — was one of modern China’s most remarkable women. She is sometimes overshadowed by her husband Liang Sicheng, the “father of modern Chinese architecture,” but her own work cannot be denied.
Wang Zhaojun is one of the four beauties of ancient China, a woman who prevented bloodshed by being a "peace bride." But she suffered during her lifetime, and her story has never been her own — even as she became a muse for poets and writers throughout the centuries.
Four months before June 4, 1989, an unknown artist triggered the state by pulling a trigger. Critics and journalists jumped on the story for its political and social implications, but lost in the shuffle was the artist herself and the real reason — rooted in personal trauma — for her incendiary performance.
"You are the legend of our family," Song Dandan wrote about Chloé Zhao after Zhao became the first Asian woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director. In this week's Chinese Lives, we take a closer look at Song, an accomplished star in her own right.