Re-Orienting China ─ Travel Writing and Cross-Cultural Understanding

Re-Orienting China moves beyond the imperialist implications of the travel writing genre, and instead shows how travel writing can function as a genre of cultural translation. Addressing the transformation that results from interacting with Chinese otherness, Leilei Chen shows how being exposed to cultural difference may engender a genuine interest in the other and spark a rediscovery of self. With close readings of writings by Jan Wong, Jock T. Wilson, Peter Hessler, Leslie T. Chang, Hill Gates, and Yi-Fu Tuan—all travellers to post-1949 China—the book acknowledges the separation between home and abroad but also looks for connections and commonalities. 

In the context of today’s globalized world, Re-Orienting China embraces the possibility of productive engagement with Chinese otherness and imagines what balanced relationships across borders can look like. 

Leilei Chen is a sessional instructor of English and Writing Studies at the University of Alberta. Before moving to Canada she had been a professor of English at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. She has published in the areas of Victorian Studies, Asian American studies, Canadian literature, and travel writing.