Author Wei Hui moved to New York when her provocative writing was banned in her native China. Now, from a distance, she enjoys a more positive relationship with her home country, she tells Róisín Ingle
When China's government burned 40,000 copies of Wei Hui's debut novel, Shanghai Baby, it was the making of the ambitious young writer.
Charting the sexual awakening, drug taking and general hedonism of her party-animal protagonist "Coco", the novel was banned in her home country. The ban turned the literature graduate into an overnight publishing sensation who was feted as the poster girl for a brasher, bolder China. "I was a bestseller around the world, while in my country I was the national bitch," as she 31-year-old author puts it herself, nibbling smoked salmon in The Clarence Hotel.
The success brought wealth to feed her obsession with designer clothes but more importantly afforded Wei Hui (pronounced Way Way) a ticket out of Shanghai. "Unlike millions of women in China, I was able to get a visa and was lucky enough to go to the States where I had a scholarship to study in the East Asian department of Colombia University."
New York, where she lives when she is not based in Shanghai, provides the backdrop for much of the action in her new novel, Marrying Buddha, which follows Coco on a spiritually enlightening journey with a Japanese boyfriend. The book still contains a lot of her trademark erotic writing. "I think I write sex well, so I have no plans to stop," she says.
But she is, in other ways, a changed woman. Her publicist says the last time she came to Ireland she had little English and was somewhat overwhelmed by the experience. The Wei Hui in expensive jeans - she refers to her designer clothes as her "babies" - topped with a tailored jacket revealing a hint of silk bustier, is a more confident creature than the budding star who greeted journalists almost five years ago. She is almost breathless as she explains how geographical distance from China brought her closer to her cultural roots.
"I arrived in New York the day before September 11th, so it was chaotic," she says. "I met a Japanese man who is the model for the character Muju. He became my mentor and introduced me to a great many things, to Taoism, meditation and Tai Chi. In New York I had a kind of peace that the pace of life in Shanghai does not give you. The peace to read and reflect. I realised I had been a slave to Western culture and I had used it as a weapon against oppressive Chinese society. I began to recognise my true Chinese identity. Having the distance made me appreciate a lot of things I had not before."
She no longer drinks alcohol, but meditates and does yoga, having left behind the lifestyle she and her heroine once embraced. "The criticism of me and my book made me stronger as a woman. I no longer crave approval."
This and the relaxing of attitudes in China has made the publication of her follow-up a less fraught experience. "They allowed me to publish Marrying Buddha in China this time. I had to chop off a lot of parts and change the title to My Zen, but I am glad it's out there."
She concedes that there is pressure on her to continue writing Coco's story which she admits in many ways is Wei Hui's story, adding the caveat that "writing a novel one gets to fantasise". She is single, "although there are always men around" and hopes to develop spiritual themes in future work. "My favourite chapters in my new book are the ones where Coco spends time in the Temple of the Righteous Rain. I can read them again and again and still enjoy them," she says.
Listening to her, it sounds as though she may have closed the door on Coco's story.
"Coco was a symbol for millions of Chinese women who were on that same liberating journey, but I have moved on. I had to go away to find out who I really was, but now that I have, I am filled with joy every day. That can only be reflected in my writing."
Marrying Buddha is published by Constable & Robinson, €10.30