Xinran was born in 1958. During the Cultural Revolution, her father was imprisoned and she and her brother were separated from their family. At school, she was bullied badly but saved by a secret library of books that a teacher told her she could go and read when she was unhappy. In the 1980ies she got a job in broadcasting, starting as a producer and rapidly became a successful TV and radio presenter.

Her life changed when she started presenting the radio program called ‘Words on the Night Breeze,’ that later inspired her to write The Good Women of China. She became a national icon for women but gradually began to find the burden of being both a voice for the women of China and the person they turned to in need overwhelming. In 1997 she decided to leave China for England. Since living in England she has been teaching at SOAS and advising corporations (including the BBC) about relations with China.

Read a profile of Xinran on the UK Guardian.