What a long way it is from one life to another: yet why write if not for that distance; if things can be let go, every before replaced by an after.

Some people in China don't look at freedom of speech as an abstract ideal, but more as a means to an end.

A real dreamer must have a mutual trust with time.

In film, you have to present everything on the screen so it's the opposite of what I usually do with storytelling. It forced me to think about how people walk, where they sit at that moment. With Princess of Nebraska, it was just fun to watch because the movie was so far from the story. It was very much a different story.

Why do I write about China? That is a very good question. I think there are questions about China that I haven't been able to answer. The reason I write is that there are questions to which I want to find answers - or I want to find questions beyond those questions.

There are people who are willing to work within the system, and people who don't want to work with the system at all.

What is revolution except a systematic way for one species to eat another alive?