The female writer Zhang Lan who wrote the "New York Epidemic Diary" is gone, my friend: Her heart is full of love

2020/03/3109:20:06 international 1307

As of March 30, the number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia worldwide has exceeded 700,000, of which there have been more than 33,000 cases in New York City, the United States.

For most people, this is a huge and distant number. But for the Chinese cultural circle in New York at this moment, there was a woman who was not sick and died, but she brought everyone a clear and close pain. To use the words of Gu Yuehua, the president of the Chinese Women Writers Association of New York, it is "a wailing in the circle of friends, only to find that everyone who knows her praises and regrets her the same..."

"she" is called Zhang Lan, born in January 1969, is an independent curator and interaction designer, based in New York. Recently, under the pseudonym "New York Blue", starting from March 6th, she serialized the "New York Epidemic Diary" on the Caixin blog. Her lively content and unique perspective recorded her through WeChat public accounts such as "Moshang America". Reprinted, gradually became popular.

The female writer Zhang Lan who wrote the

张兰's photo

Zhang Lan wrote in her diary how the attitude of New Yorkers towards wearing masks was slowly changing, and noticed that cats and dogs in various pet shelters in New York were adopted by people living at home Once empty, I will also mention that my pet Chinchilla and my husband have just repaired the dishwasher and other daily life. It can be seen from her diary that she has a happy family: the eldest daughter is in Los Angeles, originally scheduled to hold the wedding in August this year; the younger daughter is still in school and recently took online lessons at home.

However, just as more and more readers began to wait for her update every day, unexpected bad news suddenly came: on the morning of March 27, local time, Zhang Lan suffered a car accident while going out and died unfortunately.

The Red Star News reporter contacted Zhang Lan’s friend and biographer Fan Haitao today. In 2011, Fan Haitao went to Columbia University to study oral history. "The first oral history project I did was the oral history of Chinese Americans." She found "New York Blue" on Weibo, sent her a private message, and quickly received a reply. Zhang Lan not only accepted it herself The interview also "became my introducer for a series of interviews on Chinese American history."

The two have since become close friends. "Lan has lived in the United States for 20 years. Like many Chinese, she has experienced extremely difficult moments, from stumbles to a stable life. Every year, she holds Thanksgiving gatherings in her warm home in New Jersey...with two minutes of old age. Godmother and Korean Soybean made a Sichuan bean curd.” Fan Haitao recalled Zhang Lan in an article, “She would give a speech in the house, one of which impressed me: “I know your pain and loneliness, I I got a lot of help back then, and I hope to pass on this kind of help.”

Now, as the founder of Haitao’s oral history and biographical studio, Fan Haitao has returned to live and work in Beijing, but she still will often Thinking of the situation of sitting in Zhang Lan's kitchen and cooking with her back then, "At that moment, my heart was full of love and a touch of satisfaction."

The female writer Zhang Lan who wrote the

Zhang Lan (far left) and Fan Haitao (far right)

According to Fan Haitao’s understanding, due to the current epidemic, Zhang Lan’s eldest daughter in Los Angeles is temporarily unable to return to New York, and her family and friends may The memorial service will be held in the form of webcast.

Previously, Zhang Lan mentioned in the New York Epidemic Diary that she planned to publish a new book of her own: a collection of essays "A Hundred Moments of the New York Subway", which records all kinds of people and things she witnessed on the subway and made appointments. So that her eldest daughter can paint the cover of the new book. "I urged her not to forget the cover of my new calligraphy and painting. She said that her life was a little messy after adopting a cat recently. I said it must be done before April."

Gu Yuehua wrote on the Caixin blog, After Zhang Lan's death, her mother Huang Deying sent a WeChat message: "Daughter did not come back last night. I believe she is really on a long journey this time."

Red Star News reporter Qiao Xueyang Figure according to Zhang Lan Weibo and Fan Haitao Weibo Edit Li Xueli

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