入乡随俗？| To Be, Or Not To Be?

编者按：本文选自由“母爱桥”和《剑河风》联合出品的公益英中双语出版物《戏说英国》。《戏说英国》一书由42位在英华人作者与36位大学译者联袂志愿完成。文笔幽默风趣，展现了华人在英国的生活感受——特别是在英中文化的差异中如何应对日常的文化碰撞的五味杂陈。《戏说英国》获得了数位英中知名人士的支持和推荐：如英国前48家集团主席斯蒂芬·佩里先生、英国前驻华外交官与商会主席商颍露女士、曾在BBC与英国高校任职的戴雨果教授、英国学者马汀·雅克等；由著名华裔艺术家曲磊磊题写书名，中国畅销书作家诗人冯唐绘制封面，以及中国西部文学的旗帜作家雪漠撰写后记。

Editor’s Note:
This article is excerpted from Haha! Britain — a charitable bilingual publication co-produced by The Mothers’ Bridge of Love (MBL) and River Cam Breeze. The book is a lively collaboration between 42 Chinese authors living in the UK and 36 university-based volunteer translators. With wit and warmth, the stories capture the everyday realities of Chinese communities in Britain, offering an honest look at the cultural clashes, humour, and adaptation that arise in the space between Chinese and British ways of life. Haha! Britain has been warmly endorsed by several well-known figures in UK-China relations, including Stephen Perry (former Chairman of the 48 Group Club), Luise Schäfer OBE (former British diplomat and Chamber of Commerce chair), Professor Hugo De Burgh (former BBC editor and academic), and British scholar Martin Jacques. The book’s title was handwritten by celebrated British-Chinese artist Qu Leilei, its cover illustrated by bestselling Chinese author and poet Feng Tang, and the postscript contributed by Xue Mo, a prominent voice in contemporary Chinese literature.

作者：薛欣然 | Xinran Xue

Translated from Chinese to English by Zhang Heruijie

我每每想分享在英国生活工作二十余载的经历，都会产生思绪的“交通堵塞”：一言难尽，丛林一片，海阔天空，云雨雷电，尽在其中。文稿篇幅有限，在此略述二三入乡随俗的趣事。

由于家中父母都曾受过英语与俄语的教育，因此我从小敬畏外语，生怕成为他们的“无知后代”。然而，命运终究逃不出墨菲定律——越怕什么就越会遭遇什么！在大学时自己的各科成绩中属英语最差，从未考过 60.5 分！于是我咬牙切齿：此生不与英语为伍！未料墨菲定律如咒，不仅鬼使神差地驱使我“弃明投暗”移居英国，连滚带爬地在英语世界谋生奋斗二十余载，还被一份刻骨铭心的爱情吸进一个传统的英国家庭，直至如今梦中私语竟都是英文，而且还常在梦里做着那个永远做不完的作业：英译汉莎士比亚名句“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”。记得那一句英文被全班四十余人翻译出各不相同的中文，等待揭晓标准答案时，以严谨著称的老师却说这个句子没有标准答案！

 To be, or not to be,是，还是不是？做，还是不做？行，还是不行？能，还是不能？

……

That is the question. 那是一个问题。

现在，这句话就是伴随我在异国他乡的影子。这个影子不是跟随在我身后，而是一直在我的前方探路导航，因为我人生的光亮来自身后的祖国、亲人、经历、学识，以及滋养我的中国文化。

咱来自礼仪之邦，对礼节视之甚重。“入乡随俗，随遇而安”是咱出国前必备的认知。未料想，走进西方的第一道门槛竟是问候行礼的纠结。中国人自古在外男女授受不亲，男女握手问候的历史也才不足百年。初到英国，与人第一次见面，国际化问候，握手不难。西式男女拥抱，咱也可一回生二回熟。然而在西方生活工作了二十余年后，仍旧搞不清各国贴面礼的准则，只知道作为女性要行贴面礼，那是男士对女性表示尊重的礼节。但究竟是从左到右？还是从右到左？应该几次？有时以为对方是英国人，于是拥抱、贴面左右各一次便打住。可偶遇对方又把脸颊递给你时，这才意识到对方是他国人，反应快时赶紧把头伸上去还来得及。而反应慢时，对方已礼貌地缩回脖颈，而咱却还在踮着脚伸着脖补礼。这时若对方善良地赶紧回礼时，两人的贴面礼便成了恰恰舞步。

得知我有西方行礼之惑，我那自认为走遍世界的英国夫君便安慰我：“见识多了，经历足了，你就能判断出对方的行礼文化了，因为人们的举手投足都可显见他们的文化背景。”听得咱直点头。可在我们共同周游世界时，我常发现他为“不对口儿”的贴面礼致歉。追问原因，他却说：“我忘了这是人家的地盘。”因此，我每次去欧洲国家讲课或开会前，我都得复习确认，再见到那里的老朋友时，应该如何行礼。也许，西方职场人多在早上洗澡更衣，餐后刷牙，就是与他们每日行贴面礼有关吧。

写到此时，想起二十年前在伦敦大学亚非学院兼课时，一位学中文的英国男学生问我，为什么中国女孩子那么容易动感情，一个拥抱就会令她们“心潮澎湃”。殊不知那时许多中国女孩从来没有被任何人拥抱过，即便是她们的家人。2023 年初，我在接受一位意大利女记者采访时，她说与中国男人行礼问候如同面对冷峻的铜像，既不能抱也不想抱。也许，那是因为习惯于谦逊内敛的中国男人难以承受意大利女人那种热情奔放的浪漫？

在英国，入乡随俗形同望山跑死马，不仅有语言、传统、习俗等文化的长征，而且还有遵纪守法和认知上的翻山越岭，有时 令人心惊，有时令人无奈。英国是一个被《大宪章》800 年来逐步构筑和完善的社会，英国人的自觉和自律既令人敬佩感慨，也 使得包括我在内的许多中国人惊讶，甚至不解他们的“痴呆”。有一次，我看到家中桌子上有一个新灯泡和 10 英镑，我问先生托笔为何，他解释说家里台灯的灯泡坏了，那是请电工上门服务的劳务费。我吃惊地说：“我们自己可以换呀！”托笔很认真地回答道： “我们没有电工资证，是不应该随意触碰电源系统的！”那天我忍无可忍地自己换了灯泡，也拿走了那份劳务费！然而最令我疑惑的还不止这些家中琐事。我在英国前后出版与加盟出版了十余本书，每一本书都要经历五个编辑步奏：结构、语言、排版、史料审核与封面设计。而每一本书的编辑都会提出一些令我瞠目结舌的问题，例如：中国那么多不同民族的人都用筷子吃饭吗？为什么你们要询问他人的身体状况？那是人家的隐私呀！你们没有医生资证怎么可以给他人送医疗保健品？那是违法的呀！我的《见证中国》一书的史料核实编辑是兰登书屋的主编，她给了我一个包含 108 个问题的清单，其中大多是无法在英语文化中接受的信息，其中包括：你们为什么要指出对方的脸色不好，并且擅自判断人家太累？于是我问她：“如果我去医院探望您也不能问吗？”她回答：“就是我要死了，你也得夸我精神或气色很好，这是英语世界的礼貌与尊重。”听了她的开导我才明白为什么托笔时常被我的中国朋友伤害。“你的中国朋友为什么对我的病情那么兴奋？还问这问那？！”我原以为那仅是托笔的个性所致。

相信生活在国际婚姻中的朋友与我一样，会有更多始料不及的文化碰撞，轻的令双方哭笑不得，重的导致家庭大战。到底谁入谁的乡？谁随谁的俗？ That is the question! 在我出席或参加的公众活动中，常常有国际婚姻中的西方人悄悄向我求助，请我劝说他 / 她的心上人，不要强迫他 / 她吃那些看着和听着都很惊恐的食物，即肚子、腰子、脑子、蹄子、爪子、舌头、耳朵之类的“中国美食”。当我试图遵旨照办时，咱中国的爱人们大多委屈不已：那不都是为她/ 他好吗？！中国养生博大精深不知道吗？吃什么补什么都不懂，怎么爱中国？！好在我家托笔有一个在英国人中少见的中国胃，那些令西方人望而生畏的生猛海鲜，他都能来者不拒。但他还是不能忍受鸡爪和稀饭，原因如下：吃鸡爪的骨头怎么办？进嘴之后怎么可以再从嘴里吐出来，那不影响他人的食欲与观瞻吗？吃稀饭的声音会产生猪进食的响声而令人难堪。

记得我刚刚能够到大人的饭桌时，奶奶便开始要我牢记中国餐桌上的礼仪和禁忌，诸如：筷子不可插在饭碗上；要等长者开吃后晚辈才可拿筷子；左手要扶碗以示敬畏食物；就近夹菜……以及就餐时不可吧唧嘴，筷勺不可敲得碗盘叮当响……但必须学会吐刺吐骨。可在西餐桌上，要想在使用西餐具的情况下贯彻执行中国的餐桌规矩，这难度可就太高了。我至今做不到用刀叉剔鱼刺和分解鸡翅的骨肉。刚与托笔结婚不久时，一次午餐中，托笔很深情地对我说：“亲爱的，你真可爱，像英国的孩子那样护着自己碗碟。”咱中国老话说：听话听音，锣鼓听声。于是向他请教，得知吃西餐不应时时手扶餐碟。当我开始适应不再用手扶碗碟时，伦敦中餐馆的一位服务员表情严肃地教导我：“你应该教会你的鬼佬老公用手扶碗，那是咱们吃饭的规矩！”那么，在英国的中餐馆里就餐时，咱究竟应该遵守中西哪方的规矩呢？

很多中国人认为英国人不敬重食物。我从托笔的亲朋中了解到，他们对于食物的态度多为重色轻味，更注重餐桌布置，餐具摆放，鲜花、烛光等与食物色彩的配置。在一些传统的英国人家庭，晚餐是一天中的温馨时光，因此晚餐前要洗浴更衣（至少要恢复精神）才能开始品酒开餐。我与托笔相伴二十余年，只要在家晚餐，他都会在洗澡更衣后，才坐到只有我们两个人的餐桌前。他说那是他的家传，敬重食物与同餐者。而我因为在国内常年主持晚间广播节目，所以晚间能在家中随心所欲，是一份难得的奢侈。即便我在托笔的国家生活，感受着他的“英式家宴文化”，但我始终未能融入这份英式的优雅。

我做母爱桥公益二十年，常常看到那些在西方长大的中国孩子们的疑惑，他们几乎每天都在门内的中国家庭与门外的西方世界之间面对 To be, or not to be。中西文化相差甚远，大到信仰的相悖与制度的异体，小到打喷嚏是西式的忍耐还是中式的释放；擤鼻子是中式的含蓄还是西式交响乐般的无所忌惮；与他人共餐时，是遵循西式礼节不为他人夹菜，还是出于中国人的礼貌，为客人夹菜加饭。在英国学校厕纸必须冲进马桶，可在中餐馆厕纸却要扔进纸篓（世界多国朋友对此百思不得其解，担心下水道堵塞就要让粪便污秽一览无遗吗）。曾遇到一位混血小女孩在伦敦中国城吃饭时，拒绝在那里上厕所，因为那里的洗手池里有一只喜鹊，不吉利。她的中国妈妈试图告诉她，喜鹊在中国文化中是吉祥鸟。我听到那个女孩反驳道：“我们在幼儿园就学过 One for sorrow, two for lucky?!”的确，在英国文化中见到一只喜鹊是灾，见到两只喜鹊才是福。

您知道吗？英国政府于 2022 年 6 月公布的数据表明，约 14%的英国籍人口出生于世界各地。因此，我们每天所遇到的“英国人”，未必是在英国土生土长的英国人，而他们所代表的文化自然也未必是传统的英国文化，所以“入乡随俗”很容易走错门。To be, or not to be，真的是咱海外华人几乎每天所面对的问题！

 注解：

在我个人的实践中，与法国人行贴面礼最难，因对方来自法国不同的地区，贴面的次数则不同，一次，二次，三次，四次封顶。且贴面时先从左脸颊，还是从右脸颊也不一样。巴黎人是从左边开始，左右各一次，一共两次，南法有些地区是从右边开始的，一共三次。西班牙和葡萄牙，先贴右脸；意大利和希腊先贴左脸，都是贴两下；据说东欧人通常行礼两或三下。

Whenever I think about sharing my experiences of living and working in the UK for nearly thirty years, my thoughts become a tangled mess. It’s difficult to condense so many years – my memories feel like a chaotic landscape of vast skies, clouds, rain, thunder and lightning. Given the limited space, I’ll just share a few brief cultural anecdotes.

Because my parents were educated in both English and Russian, I grew up in awe of foreign languages, always fearing I might become their “ignorant offspring”. However, fate, guided by Murphy’s Law, had other plans – the more you dread something, the more likely it is to happen! In university, English was my worst subject, and I never scored more than 60.5 points out of 100. I vowed never to associate myself with English for as long as I lived.

Yet, as if under Murphy’s curse, I found myself “abandoning the light for the dark” and moving to the UK, where I have now spent over twenty years trying to make a living in an English-speaking world. To add to the irony, I was drawn into a traditional English family by love so deep that even my sleep-talking is in English. I often dream about translating Shakespeare’s famous line, “To be, or not to be, that is the question”, from English into Chinese, as though it were an unending assignment. I still remember how over forty students in one of my classes produced different Chinese translations of that line. When we awaited the standard answer, our famously rigorous teacher surprised us by saying that there is no standard answer for this sentence!

To be, or not to be, that is the question. This sentence has become a shadow accompanying me in a foreign land. This shadow does not followbehind me but leads the way ahead, guiding my path. This is because the light of my life comes from my homeland, family, experiences, knowledge, and the Chinese culture deeply rooted inside me.

I come from a culture that places great emphasis on etiquette, and I’ve always believed in the importance of the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” before going abroad. However, the first challenge I encountered in the West was navigating the complexity of greeting customs. In China, men and women traditionally avoid physical contact, and even the practice of shaking hands is a relatively recent development, not much older than a century.

When I arrived in the UK, shaking hands felt straightforward enough, and even the Western custom of men and women hugging became something I got used to over time. Yet, after living and working in the West for more than two full cycles of the Chinese zodiac, I still haven’t mastered the art of cheek- kissing in different countries. I understand that for a woman, a man offering a cheek kiss is often a gesture of respect. But do you start from left to right, or right to left? How many times are appropriate?

Sometimes, assuming the person is British, I stop after a hug and a kiss on each cheek. Then, when they offer their cheek for a third time, I realise they are from a different country. If I’m quick to notice, I can respond in time. If not, they’ve already withdrawn politely while I’m still on tiptoe, craning my neck for a belated kiss. And if they then come back for more, our attempt at a polite greeting suddenly resembles a cha-cha.

Knowing that I am confused about Western greeting customs, my British husband, who considered himself well-travelled, would comfort me by saying, “With more exposure and experience, you’ll be able to judge people’s greeting culture because their gestures and actions reflect their cultural background.”

However, during our travels, I often found my husband apologising for his “incorrect” cheek-kissing. “I forgot this is their territory,” he would say. It seems that even cheek-kissing requires adapting to local customs. So now, whenever I prepare for a lecture or attend a conference in a European country, I always double-check the local greeting etiquette with friends

In my personal experience, greeting etiquette with French people is particularly challenging. Depending on the region of France they come from, the number of cheek kisses varies, typically ranging from one to four times. Moreover, there’s variation in whether to start with the left cheek or the right cheek. Parisians begin with the left side, kissing once on each cheek, totalling two kisses. In some regions of Southern France, they start with the right side, resulting in three kisses.

For Spain and Portugal, it’s customary to start with the right cheek. In Italy and Greece, it starts with the left cheek, with two kisses. It’s said that in Eastern European countries, greetings usually involve two or three kisses. All I can say is, good luck!

As I write this, I recall an incident from twenty years ago when I was teaching part-time at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. A British male student learning Chinese asked me why Chinese girls are so easily moved, to the point that a hug can make them “surge with emotion”. Little did he know that many Chinese girls at that time had never been hugged by anyone, not even their family members. Likewise, in early 2023, during an interview with an Italian female journalist, she remarked that greeting Chinese men felt like facing a stern bronze statue – they were impossible to embrace, nor able to. Perhaps this stems from the fact that Chinese men, raised with a strong sense of modesty and reserve, struggle to respond to the passionate and exuberant greetings of Italian women.

Adapting to British customs feels like an endless journey, not only in terms of language, traditions and rituals, but also in navigating the laws and regulations, which can often be daunting and frustrating. The UK is a society that has evolved over 800 years, shaped by the Magna Carta. The British people’s sense of conscientiousness and self-discipline is both admirable and, at times, astonishing to many Chinese, myself included. We are often left perplexed by what can appear to be their “obsessive” adherence to rules.

Once, I saw a new light bulb and £10 on the table at home. When I asked my husband, Toby, about it, he explained that the lamp’s lightbulb had burned out, and the money was for a new bulb and the electrician’s fee. I was shocked and said, “We can change it ourselves!” Toby responded seriously, “We shouldn’t touch anything electric without the proper certification.”

Flabbergasted, I changed the bulb myself, and kept the fee!

My confusion extends beyond household matters. I have published or co-published more than ten non-fiction books in the UK. Each book goes through five editorial stages: structure, language, typesetting, historical verification and cover design. Every editor would pose questions that left me dumbfounded, such as, “Does everyone in China use chopsticks to eat?” or “Why do you ask about the health of others? Those are private matters!” Or “How can you give someone healthcare products without a medical certification? That’s illegal.”

For my book China Witness, the historical verification editor, a chief editor at Random House, gave me a list of 108 questions, most of which were “unacceptable in English culture”. These included, “Why do you point out that someone looks unwell and assume that they are too tired?”

I asked her, “If I visit you in the hospital, can’t I ask about your condition?” She replied, “Even if I were dying, I’d expect you to compliment my spirit or appearance. That’s how we show politeness and respect in our culture.”

Only after her explanation did I understand why Toby often felt hurt by my Chinese friends. “Why are your Chinese friends so worked up about my illness and asking so many questions?” I initially thought it was just his private personality.

Friends in international marriages, like me, experience even more cultural clashes. These can range from amusing misunderstandings to serious family conflicts. Who should adapt to whom? That is the question! At public events I attend, Westerners in international marriages often seek my help in persuading their partners not to force them to eat “Chinese delicacies” that look and sound terrifying to them: stomach, kidneys, brains, hooves, paws, tongues, ears and the like.

When I try to follow through on these requests, my Chinese compatriots often feel deeply aggrieved, “Isn’t it all for their benefit?! Don’t they know the profound principles of Chinese health preservation? How can they love China without understanding the concept of ‘You are what you eat’?”

Fortunately, my husband Toby had a rare “Chinese stomach” for a Brit. He could handle the exotic seafood that scares many Westerners. However, he still couldn’t tolerate chicken’s feet and congee. His reasoning was that the bones in chicken feet pose a challenge – how can you spit them out after putting them in your mouth without disturbing others’ appetites or sensibilities? As for congee, he finds the sound made while eating it reminiscent of pigs grunting, which he considers rather embarrassing.

I remember when I was first allowed to join the adults’ dinner table, my grandmother began instructing me on Chinese dining etiquette and taboos: never stick chopsticks upright in the rice bowl, wait for elders to start eating before picking up your chopsticks, use your left hand to support the bowl as a sign of respect for the food, pick the dishes closest to you... and eat without making noise or clattering with chopsticks and spoons on the bowl.

However, these Chinese table manners are difficult to uphold with Western utensils at a Western dining table. Even now, I can’t manage to use a knife and fork to debone fish or dissect chicken wings. Shortly after marrying Toby, during a lunch, he affectionately said to me, “Darling, you’re so cute, protecting your plates and dishes like British children.”

There’s an old Chinese saying, “The sound of the gong and drums can speak for the secrets.” So I asked him for advice and learned that in Western dining, one should not constantly hold onto the plate. As I began to adapt and stopped using my hands to hold plates and dishes, a waiter at a Chinese restaurant in London said, “You should teach your Western husband to hold the plate with his hand. That’s our way of eating!”

So, when dining in a Chinese restaurant in the UK, which set of rules – Chinese or Western – should we follow?

Many Chinese people believe that British people do not respect food. From Toby’s family and friends, I’ve learned that they often emphasise presentation over flavour, paying great attention to table arrangements, utensil placements, flowers, candlelight, and the visual appeal of food. In traditional British households, dinner is considered a “special time” of the day, so they take a shower and change clothes (or at least refresh themselves) before enjoying wine and starting the meal.

I was with Toby for over twenty years, and whenever we had dinner at home, he always took a shower and changed clothes before sitting at our table, even when it was just the two of us. He said it was a family tradition, showing respect for food and dining companions. In contrast, having spent years hosting nightly radio programmes in China, I never had the luxury of enjoying leisurely dinners at home. Although I now live in Toby’s country and experience his “British home dining culture”, I have yet to fully integrate into this refined English style.

In my twenty years of charity work with The Mothers’ Bridge of Love, I often see the confusion of Chinese children growing up in the West. They navigate daily between their Chinese home life and the Western world outside, facing a cultural sandwich of “To be, or not to be”. The differences between Chinese and Western cultures are vast – from conflicting beliefs and systems to small customs like whether a sneeze should be quietly endured or openly released. Blowing one’s nose: should it be discreet or boldly symphonic?

When dining with others, should the Chinese adhere to Western etiquette by refraining from serving food to others, or should they act in accordance with traditional Chinese customs by serving guests food and rice? In British schools, toilet paper must be flushed down the toilet, but in Chinese restaurants, it must be disposed of in a bin (a source of confusion for friends from many countries, who worry about making the excrement visible to all).

I once met a mixed-race girl in London’s Chinatown who refused to use the restroom because there was a magpie in the sink, which she considered unlucky. Her Chinese mother tried to explain that magpies are auspicious birds in Chinese culture. The girl countered, saying she learned in kindergarten: “one for sorrow, two for joy” – indeed, in British culture, seeing one magpie is considered unlucky, while seeing two is fortunate.

It’s important to recognise that the concept of “British people” is diverse and multifaceted. Did you know that, according to data from the British government in June 2022, around 14% of the UK population holds British nationality but was born outside the UK? This means that the people we meet every day might not be native-born Britons, and the cultures they represent can add a delightful, if not sometimes comical or confusing twist to traditional British customs. With such a vibrant mix, it’s no surprise that for many overseas Chinese, the existential question of “to be, or not to be” resonates deeply in their daily lives as they navigate this colourful and ever-evolving tapestry of cultural exchange.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

作者介绍

薛欣然，记者、作者、志愿者。从 20 世纪 80 年代末起在中国某电台工作，1997 年移居伦敦，曾当过清洁工，后于伦敦大学亚非学院兼职；自 2002 年起，先后出版了九部纪实文学作品；2004 年创建母爱桥国际文化慈善机构，致力于构建中外文化交流相关工作，支持被收养的中国孤儿，救助贫困地区的留守儿童。

欣然兼任多项英中交流项目的文化顾问，被《时代》杂志评为“城市英雄”，系《卫报》全球世纪百名杰出女性之一。

About the author

Xue Xinran, pen name Xinran, is a British-Chinese journalist, author and volunteer. She began her career in the late 1980s working at a radio station in China and moved to London in 1997, starting from cleaning jobs and later working part-time at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She began writing The Good Women of China, a collection of interview memoirs from her hosting of women’s radio programmes like Words on the Night Breeze, which was published in 2002 and translated into over 40 languages worldwide. Her other works include Sky Burial, What the Chinese Don’t Eat, Miss Chopsticks, China Witness and A Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother. She has also authored Buy Me the Sky, The Promise/Talking about Love, Still Hot, The Book of Secrets and China Adorned. In August 2004, Xinran founded the Mothers’ Bridge of Love (MBL) international cultural charity with a group of volunteers, aiming to build bridges between China and the West, adoptive and birth cultures, and poverty and wealth. MBL has long provided counselling and ancestral tracing services for adoptive families of Chinese children worldwide.

The book Mothers’ Bridge of Love, specially compiled for adoptive families, ranked third on the Washington Post’s top 10 children’s bestseller list in 2007. By the end of 2021, MBL had helped build 28 rural and urban primary school libraries and, since 2013, has regularly collaborated with the V&A Museum of Childhood in London and China Exchange to host annual Chinese New Year celebrations.

Since March 2020, MBL Multimedia has published 500 Xinran Essays to meet the communication needs between overseas students and their families during the COVID-19 isolation period. In February 2021, MBL launched the Cultural Forum, an online monthly magazine providing a platform for Sino-Western dialogue to help Chinese people at home and abroad understand the COVID-19 pandemic and support pandemic relief efforts.

Xinran has also served as a cultural consultant for Western media outlets in the UK, USA, and Europe, contributing to current affairs commentary on various television and radio stations. She has served as a literary consultant for the UK’s “Asian House” and was named a city hero by Time Out magazine’s international edition in 2008 as part of its Beijing 40th anniversary celebrations. In 2011, she was recognised as one of the Global Century’s 100 Outstanding Women by The Guardian in the UK. In 2013, she received an honorary doctorate in anthropology from Hamilton College in the USA. In 2014, The Good Women of China was selected by Random House UK as a world literature classic, and Sky Burial was included in Penguin’s Classic 26 Alphabet series. In 2019, she was named one of the Outstanding Women of the Year in the UK.