China is home to one of the world’s most iconic architectural feats, the ancient Great Wall, built to guard its borders. Today, it is also known for the “Great Firewall,” the vast digital system that regulates and restricts online activity within the country. This modern wall limits access to many social media platforms and international websites, and posts are monitored and often deleted if deemed politically sensitive. How do Chinese citizens use and navigate the web within these constraints? Are there cracks in this wall?
Join NCTA seminar leader Tese Wintz Neighbor to explore new subcultures and tech innovations that have sprouted up behind the Great Firewall. We will discuss Yi-Ling Liu’s 2026 book, The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet. As the author weaves together the stories of artists, activists, and entrepreneurs, the reader experiences their “dance” between freedom and control in 21st century China.
Yi-Ling’s book traces the arc of Chinese online life through five protagonists — a rapper, a gay rights entrepreneur, a feminist activist, a science fiction writer, and an internet censor — each navigating the creative and constrictive forces of the Chinese internet in their own way. The result is a deeply reported, novelistic account of what it feels like to live, create, and push back in one of the most surveilled and dynamic digital environments on earth. (Kaiser Kuo, Sinica Podcast).
Participants will receive a free copy of the book.
Dates and Times
Participants will be assigned to one of the following sessions, with the possibility of switching if needed:
Group 1: Tuesday, April 21, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Group 2: Wednesday, April 22, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
This book club will be held over Zoom. Participants commit to reading this book, completing a short assignment, and participating in the two-hour book club with video camera on.
Program benefits
- A physical copy of the book
- Online Resource packet
- Four free Washington State OSPI clock hour.
Registration
This program is free and open to K-12 educators of all grades and subjects. Please complete this form to register. Space is limited to 20 participants per session.
This program is sponsored by the East Asia Resource Center at the University of Washington, and funded by a Freeman Foundation grant in support of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).