Born between 1979 and 1984, the first generation raised under China’s single-child policy has reached adulthood. When Xinran set out to interview these men and women, she expected to find a prosperous peer group enjoying incredible opportunities. Instead, she found them adrift between clashing cultures, swept up in unprecedented change.
While China transforms at the speed of light, new generations of precious ‘one and onlies’ are burdened with expectation, yet raised without a sense of responsibility. Within their families, they are treated as ‘little emperors’. But such cosseting comes at a high price: isolation, confusion and an inability to deal with life’s challenges.
In Buy Me the Sky, Xinran shares the stories of those born in the one-child generations – from the business man’s son unable to pack his own bag, to the PhD student who hauled herself out of extreme rural poverty. Through the fascinating lives of these only children and their upbringing, we see the emerging face of a superpower and glimpse China’s global future.