Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China

Ash (co-editor of While We’re Here), a British-born journalist living in Beijing, explores differences among China’s millennial generations in this fascinating book. The author follows six young Chinese from vastly different backgrounds and with even more diverse ambitions. Explaining his theme, he reports the Chinese observation that the country’s rapid changes in recent decades mean that a significant generation gap opens up every three to five years. Those born in 1980 remember a pre-prosperity China, those born in 1985 wouldn’t remember Tiananmen Square, and those born in 1990 take the Internet and China’s global status for granted. Ash profiles three 1985 babies: Dahai, from Huber province, a “self-styled loser” from a military family; Xiaoxiao, a small business owner from the Heilongjiang province; and Fred, a party member’s daughter and academic from Hainan province. He also includes Snail, born in 1987 in rural Anhui province and now addicted to online gaming; Lucifer, a pop star wannabe from Hebei province, born in 1989; and Mia, a rebellious fashion stylist born in 1990 in Xinjiang province. Ash’s deeply insightful exploration paints a vivid picture of growing up in China today, and, by implication, this powerful and ever-morphing nation’s future leaders. Agent: Rebecca Carter, Janklow & Nesbit. (Mar.)