Wish Lanterns

Young Lives in New China

By: Alec Ash

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

There are more than 320 million Chinese between the ages of 16 and 30. Children of the one-child policy, born after Mao, with no memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre, they are the first net native generation to come of age in a market-driven, more international China. Their experiences and aspirations were formed in a radically different country from the one that shaped their elders, and their lives will decide the future of their nation and its place in the world.

Wish Lanterns offers a deep dive into the life stories of six young Chinese. Dahai is a military child, netizen, and self-styled loser. Xiaoxiao is a hipster from the freezing north. "Fred", born on the tropical southern island of Hainan, is the daughter of a Party official, while Lucifer is a would-be international rock star. Snail is a country boy and Internet gaming addict, and Mia is a fashionista rebel from far west Xinjiang. Following them as they grow up, go to college, find work and love, all the while navigating the pressure of their parents and society, Wish Lanterns paints a vivid portrait of Chinese youth culture and of a millennial generation whose struggles and dreams reflect the larger issues confronting China today.

©2017 Alec Ash (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A good representation

I grew up in China and immigrated to the US at the age of 17. The book resonated with my experience and bring about a lot of nostalgic feelings (internet caffe, online gaming, early weibo, renren and guan(fu) erdai (government /rich second generations). The book is quite objective in my opinion, a good read for people who wants to learn about China through a generally unbiased lense.

6 different people, in 6 vastly different regions.

It's packed with a lot of information, but is also quite intimate.

I'm glad this was included with membership, because it's likely I never would have stumbled across such a remarkable book. Not only is the performance first rate, the "reporting" is superb. It reads more like a novel, and I would still love to know what happens to these "characters", who are actually people, after the book ends. I learned so much about Chinese culture as it was in this time frame, but also related to each person. We all go through this thing called life, and have to adjust our dreams and expectations to realities. For example, I learned a whole new perspective on Taiwan. From the descriptions of the marriage ceremonies and cultural expectations, to the descriptions of the inner life of each individual that the author presents, I highly recommend this. I've never encountered anything quite like it.

A exceptionally accurate account of life in China

Through the voices of 6 different Chinese youths, Alec Ash manages to offer his readers a vision of China, and its many changes over the past two decades, that few have ever managed to recreate so accurately. I too have spent the last two decades growing up in China and Ash's skillful writing and attention to detail are so elegant that I can't help but get emotional while listening to this audiobook. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an unfiltered vision of modern China. Colin Flahive

Amazing Human Stories

We need more stories about normal people, it helps us all feel closer to each other as we navigate life.

who is bezos?

this crap app will not let me post how good this book is enjoy for yourself

Compelling and detailed

Well written, offering insight into the changes in China as seen through the eyes of individuals born in the mid 1980s.

Narration was generally OK though like many narrators in English there were some jarring mispronunciations of important Chinese words especially proper nouns that could be easily researched... especially as Pinyin is not a hard system of transliteration. A key city named in the book, Shijiazhuang — which should be pronounced ShrJiaZhuang - is here uttered over and over as XiJiaZhuang. Etc. Beyong that I enjoyed the book and the narration.

Definitely worth a listen!

If you are a millennial who wants to walk down memory lane and/or you are interested in a contemporary (although already, I assume, dated) take on Chinese society, this should be a very interesting listen. I couldn't help but be drawn into parallels between the author's subjects' lives and my own childhood - 20s. Now that I've finished the book, I'd very much like to know how the characters are doing at present!

The writing style is engaging, as the author leads you through chronological slice of life sequences, character-by-character. The narrator also does the book justice - definitely an easy listen but it won't lull you to sleep. I'd recommend this one!

Insight into the Millennial Generation in China

As a millennial myself, I was interested in the lifestyle and attitudes of my peers in China. This book provided insight into the lifestyle and attitudes of Millennials in China by exploring the lives and formative experiences of a handful of young men and women known personally to the author in China. In that way it had many of the engaging, personal qualities of a memoir. Good for helping to visualize the billion plus Chinese people as individuals with their own experiences and attitudes. This book focused on the personal and so ended up communicating something about the collective. A valuable insight into China's millennial population.

Interesting and accurate depiction of 6 lives

However, the Chinese words are absolutely butchered. For example Zhuge Liang was pronounced in an almost unintelligible way…

Congrats to Alex Ash

Having lived in c Communist China off and on since the early 1990’s, I like how Ash identifies how quickly the meaning of Modern China changes culturally so rapidly within a generation, the “generation gaps” fomented largely by technology.
My only disappointment is the audiobook not using a reader who could properly pronounce Chinese words.