China in One Village charts the changes in rural life through oral histories of its residents recorded by literary scholar, Liang Hong, on a return visit home. It found instant popularity after publication in 2010, helping to kickstart a literary trend for non-fiction storytelling. The first English translation will be available in June.
We have a saying in English that ‘you can’t go home again’. In your own homecoming, you describe a changed landscape: the river has dried up; the roads are new, paved, wide and plentiful; the waterfowl have disappeared. Even your childhood home is abandoned and in disrepair, an apt metaphor for village life. What was the most challenging aspect of returning home – and memorializing your village with this book?
