A queer feminist anthropologist exploring the realities of culture, gender, and sexuality in contemporary Asia
Last Friday, a first blanket of snow covered Beijing for a few hours. I was safely tucked away, out of the cold, in a classroom on the third floor, overlooking the university's playing fields. The more curious of the class peered out of the windows at the heavy dollops of snow coming down past the silvery trees [...]
What time is it? It's Chinese Dentist Time! When I was a kid, just as ten to ten became Cowboy Time (ten to ten to ten ten ten..., two thirty became tooth hurty - Chinese Dentist Time. It was years before I realised the racism of this joke. But it has nonetheless been circling my head for the [...]
I look at images of China – my images of China – and I am amazed. I have travelled to some astoundingly beautiful places since I arrived 14 months ago. I have been incredibly lucky to have the time to get out of the city for long periods, and am privileged with visits from keen [...]
Since I moved to Beijing, my parents have told me countless times to be careful what I write about China. I wouldn’t want to get caught by some kind of authority and be kicked out of the country now, would I? But this has not been a problem, because, as much as I would love [...]
I was preparing to alight from the gaotie (high speed train) on my way to a friend's wedding one sweltering Friday afternoon this summer when I heard raised voices. At first, I thought nothing of it. People in China shout at the top of their voices all the time, it's just the normal pitch at [...]
In April this year, my wonderful mother came to visit me in Beijing. She hadn’t taken an international trip alone for a few years. Well, she hadn’t left Europe alone for something like 30 years. (Having kids changes things like that, I would think.) So she boarded a plane from Norwich to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to [...]
Here is a piece I wrote a little over a year ago, sitting in a coffee shop in Beijing, recuperating after a disappointing afternoon and a tough first few weeks in China. After all the frustrations I'd come up against and the trying paths I'd trodden to get there, I hoped that maybe I had [...]
He took me to a stand-up comedy open-mic night, took to the stage and announced to the audience: "I'm on a Tinder date. If you pretend I'm funny, I might actually get somewhere tonight."
As a foreigner, how do you deal with getting stared at 24/7?
My policy is – no matter how hungry, tired, alienated or desperate to find a proper toilet I might be feeling – smile! Especially when you’re on camera.
Daily life in China can be strange, infuriating, illogical and altogether baffling. “Oh, China!” is sometimes the only thing that can be said.
Zhēn de Gender 