The Wall Dancers
Event
This event is cohosted with ASU and the Future Security Initiative.
As the world was waking up to the power and emancipatory promise of the internet in the late 1990s, Chinese authorities began constructing a system of online surveillance and censorship now known as “the Great Firewall.” But far from being a barren landscape, the digital world that sprouted up behind the firewall brimmed with new subcultures and tech innovations, offering many Chinese citizens previously unimaginable connection and opportunity.
In The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, journalist Yi-Ling Liu presents an intimate portrait of China’s online ecosystem—and a crucial lens into the on-the-ground reality of life there—tracing the last three decades of the Chinese internet’s evolution, from its lexicon and memes to the precise nature of its censorship.
Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, The Wall Dancers weaves together the stories of individuals navigating China’s transformation into both the world’s largest online user base and one of its most populous authoritarian states. As these entrepreneurs, activists, artists, and dreamers experience the internet’s power as a tool for both control and liberation, they grapple with universal questions of success and authenticity, love and solidarity, faith and resilience.
Join the New America Fellows and Future Security Programs for a conversation with 2021 New America (ASU Future Security) Fellow Yi-Ling Liu and 2026 New America Fellow Dan Xin Huang about The Wall Dancers.
Speakers:
Yi-Ling Liu
2021 New America (ASU Future Security) Fellow
Author, The Wall Dancers
Dan Xin Huang
2026 New America Fellow
Copies of The Wall Dancers are available for purchase here through our bookselling partner Solid State Books
In partnership:
