'Wish Lanterns' portrays six young Chinese people

British journalist captures ba ling hou generation

By Kang Aa-young

Alec Ash's “Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China” is a story of China's younger generation born between 1985 and 1990, part of the generation known as “ba ling hou, ” or “after the 80s.”

They were born after the one-China policy was implemented in 1980 after Deng Xiaoping initiated economic reform in China. Ba ling hou is a generation in transition ― they were raised in traditional Chinese culture with Confucianism and began their careers in a fully-blown market after the Chinese economy experienced rapid growth. The younger generation spent most of their childhood years with their grandparents as their parents migrated to urban areas for jobs to support the family members they left behind.

Author Ash interviewed six Chinese people who belong to the ba ling hou generation and tells their stories based on his in-depth interviews, rather than striving to characterize their common traits or draw any implications from it.

“One reason I wrote this book is because I felt that the popular portrait of young Chinese people was painted with too few brushstrokes and far too large a splash of hyperbole,” the author says in the book.

“I wanted to show them as diverse, exposed to complicated influences and encompassing a large range of political opinions ― as well as having the right not to have any.”

The ba ling hou are the ones beginning their careers in “New China,” a China that is more open to the global market and more competitive than ever. Many of the after 80s generation are single-handedly responsible for financially providing for their parents' retirement.

“To generalize is to be an idiot,” Ash quoted William Blake to answer the question of why he chose to tell his subjects' individual stories instead of using the interviews to define the generation.

Through his book, the author said he wanted to give a glimpse of diversified Chinese citizens of the generation with their background growing up and the individual struggles they went through.

“The problem with making big statements about China is that you can immediately think of an example that suggests the opposite,” Ash said.

“But single dots can form an image, and six notes can make a melody.” he added.

Some experts in Korea compared “Wish Lanterns” to the popular TV series “Reply” which aired on cable network tvN from 2012 to 2015. The series was about five old friends who spent their childhood years in Seoul's underdeveloped district of Ssangmun-dong.

Just like Ash did in his book “Wish Lanterns” to describe the younger Chinese generation, the retro Reply TV series depicted the lives of the five families without attempting to define what their lives meant to today's Korea or draw any serious socio-economic implications from the generation.

Ash depicts the lives of the six by following them through their twenties, including their lives as they leave for university, find their first jobs, and grow up in the Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping administrations.

Their stories are no different from those of young people all over the world: moving out of home, starting a career, falling in love. But pressure starts young, and their road is rough.

The post 80s generation currently faces difficulties such as youth unemployment, an overheated real estate market, soaring inflation, and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Dahai is the son of a military family and an engineer toiling away at a train tunnel.

Xiaoxiao set up her own boutique store after graduation.

Fred, is the daughter of a high-ranking cadre who studies political philosophy at university.

Snail, develops an addiction to online gaming upon leaving home.

Lucifer, the rocker, is an aspiring international superstar.

And, finally, there's Mia, who's into fashion, with a job at the glossy Harper's Bazaar.

He found the six in various places: Snail in a game forum, Lucifer at a gig, Fred through her teachers, Mia on a geo-location app, Dahai and Xiaoxiao through their wedding photographer.

Moving from one story to another, Ash describes each of their stories with colorful detail.

Providing background information of their demographic's problems, such as to the use of emojis among China's youth, Ash ties their stories to other changes happening around the nation.

As it's based on fast-changing Chinese society, lying on the shift from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping, the author also explains the subsequent shift to a more “patriotic” and controlled society by “showing” his characters' lives; Fred, who's the most political and academic character, with complex opinions on China's politics, shows a contrast to other five, who are more concerned with their own daily struggles, including finding and holding onto a job, finding an apartment and finally, male characters struggling to find their “partner,” while Chinese tradition encourages them to find women to “settle” in their lives.

Lucifer, whose ambition is to be a global star, is a character that's breaking the rules, keeping his dream until the end.

Ash observed and recorded the process by interviewing them in depth, though he does not appear in the pages, he is the narrator who shares stories from different points of view, even when it's ultimately the same struggle.

Ash, a Beijing-based journalist who's also a part of the same generation as his book's characters, warns readers not to think of the book's subjects as “spokespeople” for their generation.

“There are over 320 million Chinese in their teens and twenties in mainland China,” Ash said. “Here are six.”