Under Red Skies: The Life and Times of a Chinese Millennial

‘You can learn more about modern China through this compulsively readable memoir than from many weightier tomes.’ Barbara Demick, former Beijing Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Times and author of Nothing to Envy

The first English-language memoir from a Chinese millennial to be published. Karoline Kan was born in 1989, the same year as the Tiananmen Square protests: her generation has always been caught between China’s political landscape, its hyper-modern technology and urban and economic boom. Through the stories of three generations of women in her family, Kan provides us with a glimpse into the everyday lives of the country’s people against the backdrop of dizzingly rapid social change. Her grandmother – who struggled to make a way for her family during the Great Famine, her mother – who defied the One-Child Policy by giving birth to Karoline, and herself – born into a village peasant family but succeeding against all odds in gaining an education, one that her mother and grandmother could scarcely have dreamed of. Kan will be in conversation with CEO of China Dialogue, Isabel Hilton. This will be Kan’s first London event and she will be signing copies of her book directly after the talk.

About Karoline - Kan Karoline Kan is a former New York Times reporter who writes about millennial life and politics in China. Currently an editor at China Dialogue, she lives in Beijing.

About Isabel - Hilton Isabel Hilton is a London based writer and broadcaster and founder and CEO of chinadialogue.net.