Note: This essay is by a contributor based in China who has been anonymised due to safety concerns. The piece has been translated from Mandarin into English (see original below) [ … ]
Category: NüStories Magazine
NüStories is a magazine of ideas that aims to highlight minority voices on China subjects
Book Excerpt: ‘I Am Not a Tourist’ by Daisy J. Hung
Read an exclusive excerpt from “I Am Not a Tourist: Conversations on Being British Chinese” by Daisy J. Hung (Published by HQ, HarperCollins), out now: Portraits, plaques and memorials will [ … ]
A trip to the supermarket
BY N. J. Chan *Editor’s note: The following story was a runner-up in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here. Photo: [ … ]
Mother Tongue
BY KIM GORDON *Editors note: The following story was a runner-up in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here. Photo: [ … ]
In queer diaspora, my fear leaks through
BY ANRAN ZHENG *Editors note: The following story was a runner-up in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here. Photo: [ … ]
Exhibition: Ways of Remembering Hong Kong
For Hongkongers, remembering is an act of resistance. This month, members of the Hong Kong Action Archives (HKAA), a nonprofit consisting of Hong Kong and Taiwanese community archivists, launched an [ … ]
Beijing International Film Festival brings Chinese films to a UK audience
This week marks the end of the 15th annual Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), which aims to bring Chinese films to global audiences and foster greater diversity in the film [ … ]
NüProfile: Amy Ng on playwriting and her show ‘Shanghai Dolls’ – a feminist retelling of famous female figures in the Cultural Revolution
When two penniless actresses meet in Shanghai at auditions for Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, they quickly become inseparable. But as political upheaval rips through China, their tumultuous friendship will alter not [ … ]
‘Beauty Queen’: Excerpt from Anne Anlin Cheng’s Memoir ‘Ordinary Disasters’
Read an exclusive excerpt from “Ordinary Disasters: How I Stopped Being a Model Minority” by Anne Anlin Cheng, which debuted in September 2024 and was published by Pantheon. Photo: Anne [ … ]
I am a Midwestern Chinese Girl
BY JENNA WANG *Editor’s note: The following story won 2nd prize in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here. As [ … ]
What You Know (And Didn’t Know)
BY CHRIS YITAO SHEN *Editor’s note: The following story won 3rd prize in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here. Photo: [ … ]
“You need glasses for Asian faces.”
BY JULIETTE YU-MING LIZERAY *Editor’s note: The following story won 1st prize in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more [ … ]
Chinese Female Stand-Up Comedians and their Prisoner’s Dilemma
BY QINGBING CHEN *Editor’s note: The following story was a runner-up in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here. While [ … ]
Memoir excerpt: Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You
Read an exclusive excerpt from Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You by Candice Chung: Those first few years in Sydney, my sister and I cooked like the reclusive middle-aged men [ … ]
Chinese women use hashtags like “baby food” to shield from sexist men, but remain vulnerable to abuse
BY LUNA HUANG When Chuxuan (not her real name) was asked whether she had encountered sexual harassment on Chinese digital platforms, her answer was grudging and resentful: “Yes – a [ … ]
Reflections on a light show
BY CHENNI XU AND CHAO DENG Inspired by The Use of Photography by Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie, we penned twinned pieces in response to a shared photo of our [ … ]
2025 NüStories Essay Contest
This year, NüStories launched its first annual personal essay contest to encourage and honor non-fiction writing on China by underrepresented writers – and we were blown away by the response! [ … ]
Memoir excerpt: Model Minority Gone Rogue by Qin Qin
Read an exclusive excerpt adapted from Model Minority Gone Rogue: How an unfulfilled daughter of a tiger mother went way off-script by Qin Qin (Hachette Australia, March 2024): Dragon Fire [ … ]
NüProfile: Jih-E Peng on cinematography and the creative process
BY TINGTING WANG Jih-E Peng is a Taiwanese cinematographer who was raised in Hong Kong. Now based in New York, she has 15 years of experience working in the American [ … ]
Fiction: A Long Walk Through the Tall Dry Grass
BY N.J. CHAN Author’s note: My tale centers around a girl from rural Guangdong, China during the second Sino-Japanese war. The war affects her life in a tragic way through a heart-breaking [ … ]