Road to success

Chen Jiangong

Writer and vice-chairman of the China Writers Association

Born in 1949 in Beihai, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Chen moved to Beijing when he was 8. In 1968, he graduated from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China and became a coal miner in western Beijing during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). He was admitted to the Chinese literature department of Peking University after passing the gaokao in 1977. Over the years, several of his works have been published overseas in Korean, Japanese, French and English.