Blog

Here is my latest book review for the SF Chronicle: ‘Bury What We Cannot Take,’ by Kirstin Chen By Fan Wu March 21, 2018 China in the late 1950s was replete with political and social tumult. Following the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the...

Toby Eady, my first literary agent, a mentor and a dear friend, passed away three weeks ago, after losing his battle with cancer. Today, his funeral was held in London, the UK. Unfortunately I couldn’t be there and say the final goodbye. Toby...

Amethyst Saw writes about books and here is her review on FEBRUARY FLOWERS. Thank you, Amethyst! Humans connect in various ways. We connect by showing vulnerability and responding to it. Connection can be built by recognising, comparing, relating...

Recently, I had some email correspondence with a reader in France, a mathematician and someone who knows a lot about Russian poetry. Though I grew up reading classics of Russian literature, it was mostly novels, “Doctor Zhivago” being a...

This morning, my friend Stephanie sent me several TED Talks about “home.” Two weeks ago, we discussed things like home, belonging, community, etc. during our long walk at Vasona Park. Where is home, what’s home, who are we in relation to...

My five-year-old recently joined a local youth soccer league. Two practices a week and a game every weekend. He loves soccer and is really proud of his “league” membership. His idol is Messi and whenever I play soccer with him, he would...

A week ago, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake erupted in Sichuan, where the scenic Jiuzhaigou Natural Reserve is located. 25 people vanished in the earthquake and more than 500 people were injured. Other than the tragic loss of life, the earthquake...

I’ve just returned from a month-long trip to China. It was hot and humid (humidity > 90% ) in Guangzhou, where my parents live and where I went for college, and many afternoons, a thunderstorm erupted and swept the city. Every time a lightning...

Not long ago, I wrote a piece about the murder of a Chinese student in the UK and parachute kids and discussed the phenomenon of young Chinese students studying overseas. In the US, 1/3 of international students are now from China. The trend of...

One day, my daughter, who’s eight-year old, asked me, “Mama, am I a nerd?” “No, you’re not,” I replied. “Why did you ask?” She does competitive gymnastics, plays soccer, is the fastest runner in her class, and has many...