In her debut book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China, NPR journalist Emily Feng offers a deeply human portrait of modern China under the rule of its most powerful leader in decades. She recently spoke with Radio Catskill's Patricio Robayo about the stories behind the headlines and the people whose lives define the struggle for identity in a tightly controlled society.

The book’s title, Feng explained, is drawn from a 1950s slogan by Mao Zedong: “Let a hundred flowers bloom,” a phrase initially used to encourage diverse thinking, but quickly weaponized to suppress dissent. “A source in China told me, ‘Now, only red flowers are allowed to bloom,’” Feng said. “That phrase stuck with me—it perfectly encapsulates the shift in China today.”

Feng’s reporting journey began in China in 2015, just as the government began cracking down on civil society. “The space for free thought and expression has narrowed sharply,” she said, describing tense encounters at airports and increasing state scrutiny. After being barred from reentering the mainland in 2020, she continued reporting from Taiwan, using that distance to reimagine how stories about China can be told.

The book moves beyond borders, following individuals across Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora in the U.S., capturing the emotional and political weight of belonging—and exclusion. “I chose subjects who reflect not just gender or ethnic identity, but political values and visions for China,” said Feng. “There’s no single ‘Chinese’ identity.”

Despite personal heartbreak—being cut off from the country she covered for years—Feng holds space for complexity. “It’s like missing an ex who treated you badly,” she said. “I still love the culture, the language, the people.”

Feng hopes her book will challenge Western assumptions. “China isn’t a monolith,” she said. “Policies that target all Chinese people—like proposed U.S. visa bans—miss the diversity and nuance of 1.3 billion lives.”

As foreign media access to China shrinks, Feng warns that our understanding grows “flatter, more shallow.” But through the voices in her book, she insists, “We can still tell meaningful stories. And stories are how we understand each other.”