Zhang Xin
Zhang Xin (Writer)
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Liu Liu (六六) is the pseudonym of Zhang Xin (张辛), a contemporary Chinese feminist writer. Her main works include "Wang Gui and An Na," "Double-Sided Adhesive Tape," and "Snail House," all of which carry similar themes on family ethics and socially sensitive issues.
Zhang was born in Hefei, Anhui Province, in 1974. Her father is a professor at Anhui University, and her mother is from Shanghai. She graduated from the Department of International Trade at Anhui University in 1995 and worked at a foreign trade company for several years. In 1999, Zhang has lived in Singapore with her husband, working in preschool education. The couple also has spent part of their time traveling around the world. They have a son.
Zhang began her writing career in 1997. She became famous in 2003 when her novel "Wang Gui and An Na" was published. The novel focuses on the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Her novels "Double-sided Adhesive Tape," published in 2005 about family ethics, and "Snail House," published in 2007 about sexual relations and housing shortage in cities, have both been adapted for TV series and triggered debate on socially sensitive issues.
Zhang's writing style is humorous and full of wit. She has become a representative of feminist Chinese writers living abroad, after Eileen Chang and Hong Ying.
"Character is destiny, and the destiny of every woman in fact lies in her own hands," Zhang said in an interview with the Strait News in 2007.
Novels
《王贵与安娜》 Wang Gui and An Na (2003)
《双面胶》 Two-Sided Adhesive Tape (2005)
《蜗居》 Snail House (2007)
《浮世绘》 Ukiyo-e (2009)
《心术》 Intention (2010)
Collection of Prose
《温柔啊温柔》 Gentle Ah Gentle (2006)
《仙蒂瑞拉的主妇生涯》 Cinderella's Housewife Life (2008)
《偶的日记》 My Dairy (2008)
Essay
《妄谈与疯话》 Absurd talks and wild remarks (2010)
Zhang Xin (Businesswoman)
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Zhang Xin (张欣), the co-chief executive officer of SOHO China Ltd and wife of the Chairman Pan Shiyi (潘石屹), is the seventh richest self-made woman in the world in 2013, with a worth of US$ 3.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Her rags-to-riches story in the property industry reflects the transformation of China and its rising skylines, sprawling modern look and ever-growing desire to be rich.
Born in Beijing, on August 24, 1965, Zhang had a rather poor and unstable childhood. At the age of 14, she moved to Hong Kong with her family, where she worked as a manufacturing labor to cover her tuition fees to study abroad. Approximately five years later, she bought herself an air ticket to London and started taking language courses. She, later, studied economics at the University of Sussex,and then pursued her postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge, from which she graduated in 1992 with a master’s degree in development economics.
Upon graduation, Goldman Sachs and Travelers Group, in Wall Street, employed Zhang. Her highly paid jobs enabled her to enjoy a moderately wealthy life in New York.
In 1994, she returned to the Chinese mainland to seek investment opportunities. It was then that she met with the property investor Pan Shiyi and married him. The couple established SOHO China, one of the country’s largest real estate companies, which owns 56 million square feet in prime developments in Beijing and Shanghai. In 2007, under Zhang’s efforts, SOHO China collected US $1.9 billion for its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd - the largest IPO at that time in the commercial property industry in Asia.
In addition to the landmark skyscrapers in urban areas, Zhang created a community at the foot of the Great Wall with the participation of 12 outstanding Asian architects, including Gary Chang, Shigeru Ban and Cui Kai, in early 2000s. In 2002, the Community Under the Great Wall won an award at La Biennale di Venezia and its model is preserved by the Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris.
On May 31, 2013, a real estate investing group headed by Zhang became the owner of 40 percent of the General Motors Building,in New York, at a cost of US$700 million–so far, the largest Chinese fixed assets investment in the United States.
It was not very easy for her sons because she and her husband are very high profile, said Zhang, who has two sons, in an interview with CNN.
