Lijia Zhang
"Socialism is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China
“A beautiful memoir of the important period when China began to recover from its political traumas and open to the outside world. Our current China literature is heavy with victim memoirs, but this is a true tale of aspiration: a young woman coming of age in a nation desperately trying to do the same.”
Penguin Random House, 2009
Lijia Zhang is spirited, insightful and funny. She wants to be a journalist, wear Western clothes and indulge in romance. Instead she works in a factory producing missiles designed to reach North America; there are regulations on just about everything right down to monthly checks by the "period police" to confirm she is not pregnant.
In the oppressive routine of guarded factory compound and political meetings, Zhang is at the heart of an idealistic generation coming of age in 1980s China. Her sharp and witty chronicles of romance, English lessons, political activity, work and family tell a fascinating story filled with vibrant characters and entertaining situations while wryly observing the momentous period of change leading to Tiananmen in 1989.
Socialism is Great! is a testament to Zhang’s personal triumphs over the controlled existence that was supposed to be her destiny.
“Beautiful…. A remarkable memoir…. A notable historical document and a vivid, affecting portrait of a young woman’s resolve.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Lijia Zhang was born and raised in Nanjing. Her articles have appeared in many international publications, including South China Morning Post, Japan Times, the Independent, Washington Times, and Newsweek. Zhang is the author of “Socialism Is Great!”: A Worker’s Memoir of the New China. She is a regular speaker on BBC Radio and NPR. She lives in Beijing with her two daughters.
