Using her constant contact (and, in many cases, friendship) with a dynamic group of young novelists, filmmakers, and artists in China, acclaimed writer Jianying Zha has compiled "a knowledgeable, eye-opening book. . . . (China Pop) draws a fresh and often poignant portrait of a deeply confused country" (San Francisco Chronicle).
From her contact with a group of young novelists, film-makers and artists in China, Zha examines a wide range of developments largely unknown to Western readers: the planning of soap operas to placate popular unrest after Tiananmen; the growth of the sex tabloid and pornography industries; the new generation of entrepreneurs bringing to the mainland the consumer techniques of Hong Kong and the West; and the politics behind the censorship and commercial success of the film directors Chen Kaige (Farewell my Concubine) and Zhang Yimou (Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern).