Tag: press

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Radio Taiwan Int’l Interview – Eye on China: Western women + Chinese men

Radio Taiwan International - Eye on China: Western women + Chinese menRadio Taiwan International just interviewed me last Wednesday for their “Eye on China” series, looking at Western women and Chinese men through my blog and experiences. Here’s the introduction to the interview:

Why is it is rare to see western women with Chinese men? Jocelyn Eikenburg writes about questions like these in her award-winning blog Speaking of China.

Tune into Eye on China as Natalie Tso talks to Jocelyn about her popular blog and how she fell in love with her Mainland Chinese husband John.

You can listen to the full interview here.

Natalie is also interviewing Jo Gan of the fabulous Life Behind the Wall about her experiences as a Black woman in China (with a Chinese husband) and also Michelle Guo, a Chinese American who blogs in part about life with her Mainland Chinese husband. Stay tuned for those interviews coming up this week and next week!

But in the meantime, check out my interview — and if you love it, share it!

 

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Why I Write Q&A

Along with other contributors for Unsavory Elements, I was interviewed for the site Why I Write. I talk about everything from how I started writing and how I handle writer’s block to my favorite books and what I’m working on. Here’s a snippet:

Why I write
I think I’m like many writers, afflicted with the urge to share my experiences with the world. But for me, writing is a deeply personal endeavor. I began writing first in journals when I was growing up. Journaling was a way for me, a highly sensitive and introverted young girl, to make sense of the world in a safe space. It was through writing that I found strength, hope and – much later – my vocation in life. It’s no wonder then that I still find myself drawn to subjects that I’m personally connected to in one way or another.

I also write because I see the need for a new perspective on a subject, or even the potential to change someone’s perspective.

You’ll find the full Q&A on Why I Write. And if you love it, share it!

P.S.: Thanks to Tom Carter for this opportunity, and also to Susan Blumberg-Kason for already sharing the Q&A online!

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Featured in Global Times Article: Meet the [Chinese] Parents

For those of you who may have missed it, I was featured in a Global Times article titled “Meet the Parents,” which shares some personal tales of meet-the-Chinese-parents experiences from foreigners (including me) and offers some advice for any foreigners heading home with their boyfriend/girlfriend to meet the parents for the first time. Here’s a snippet of the article: Continue reading “Featured in Global Times Article: Meet the [Chinese] Parents”

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Featured in MetroStyle Beijing August Issue, “Love Is All You Need”

Cover Story for MetroStyle Beijing August 2012The bilingual MetroStyle Beijing magazine just featured me — as well as fabulous fellow blogger Jo Gan of Life Behind The Wall — in their August cover story titled Love Is All You Need. Here’s a snippet of the article:

Jocelyn is confident that the attitude towards dating Chinese men is changing. “I know we’re probably still nowhere close to closing the cross-cultural relationship gap that exists”, she explains, “(however) I once read a statistic that in 2009, of the 2,400 some marriages between Chinese and foreigners that year, only about 300 of them were made up of a foreign woman and Chinese man. But I really feel like Western women who, say, go to Beijing for a semester or to work, are not necessarily as likely to just write the whole idea off as they might have decades before.”

Read the entire cover story in this PDF version, and if you like it, share it.

Thanks also to Nikki Aaron for reaching out to me for this story!

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Interview on China Radio International

A screenshot of my interview on China Radio International
China Radio International recently interviewed me

China Radio International recently interviewed me and the piece, titled Married to a Culture Clash, is now up on their site. Here’s a snippet from their introduction:

Jocelyn Eikenburg had never really thought about going to China. But when her University’s English teaching program led her to the Middle Kingdom, the Environmental Biology Major fell head over heels in love.

Despite only seeking a distraction, she found her direction, career and husband John, a Chinese man. On her blog “Speaking of China”, she is now exploring her own and other interracial relationships, love in general and how it is sometimes quite convenient to have Chinese in-laws.

Living in China, it is fairly normal to see a Chinese woman in the arms of a Western man. The sight of a Western woman with a Chinese man however is still somewhat unusual and that’s definitely part of what makes Jocelyn’s blog so inspirational.

Also, for those of you who have wondered what my voice sounds like, now’s your chance to hear me, instead of just reading my words. Listen to the full piece here, and if you like it, share it. Thanks!

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Featured in Beijing Today, Nominated for a Lotus Blossom Award

Speaking of China featured in Beijing Today
I'm featured in Beijing Today, and nominated for a Lotus Blossom Award this week.

A couple of quick things I wanted to share with you.

First, the weekly Beijing Today featured me in an article last Friday. I’m late to mention it — this week has been killer — but it’s a nice one and I appreciate the coverage (note, though, I need to ask for a few corrections. For the record, I’m 34 and that older man in one of those photos, he’s my husband’s godfather, not actual father). Here’s a snippet of the article, When an American Girl Meets a Chinese Man:

“Are Jewish women more likely to marry Chinese men? How my anti-Japanese Chinese husband changed his mind about Japan …”

These are among the topics from Jocelyn Eikenburg’s blog Speaking of China, a personal account of how an American woman found love in the Chinese countryside – and the things that happened next in the cross-cultural relationship.

She writes about how she met her husband, a Chinese man from rural Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province with the English name John, in 2002 at an online company in Hangzhou when working.

They met through a mutual friend’s arrangement. Eikenburg fell in love during the summer of that year after John took her out for her birthday.

Check out the full article.

Second, Speaking of China was nominated for a Lotus Blossom Award from My New Chinese Love. If you have a moment and you really dig this blog, show your support — vote for Speaking of China here. And thanks for reading. 🙂

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Featured in China Daily Article: Western Women, Chinese Men

Western wife and Chinese husband jumping up as they hold hands together
Megan Millward and husband Zhang Lie -- one of the couples of Western women and Chinese men featured in this China Daily article (photo from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/)

In case you missed it (or, like me, you spent the weekend away — in my case, a wedding in Hangzhou — and are just catching up), the China Daily just published an article titled Western Women, Chinese Men — about the growing trend of marriages between Western women and Chinese men. It features me, as well as fellow bloggers Jo Gan of Life Behind the Wall and Melanie Parsons Gao from The Downtown Diner. Here’s an excerpt from the article with some quotes from me and my husband:

Jocelyn Eikenburg, a 33-year-old American who blogs on speakingofchina.com, had a similar experience [of having the relationship get serious fast] when she first began dating her husband, Jun Yu. “Immediately after we first started dating, he was calling me laopo.” That is Chinese for “wife”.

She was surprised by how quickly the relationship had gone from friend to potential spouse. Her blog focuses on cross-cultural relationships between Chinese men and Western women.

Family can also be another hurdle for many foreign women in relationships with Chinese men.

When Jun told his family about his relationship with Eikenburg, his father did not approve. “He cautioned me about dating a foreign girl and did not want me to get hurt,” Jun says.

His family’s attitude toward their son dating a foreign woman quickly changed when Eikenburg went home with Jun for Chinese New Year. When she showed his father pictures of her family at home, “it really opened him up”, she says. As filial piety is important to Chinese families, Eikenburg says that experience helped break down barriers….

Read the full article here — and if you love it, share it. Thanks!

 

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A Love Affair With China: Article about me in Global Times

John and I pose with a girl on our wedding day in China
Check out "A Love Affair With China," the article about me featured in the February 21, 2011 edition of the Global Times (P.S.: The little girl is NOT my daughter. 😉 )

If you happen to be flipping through the Monday, February 21 Shanghai edition of the Global Times, you might just find a familiar face on page 16. Me, actually. 😉

The Global Times profiled me and Speaking of China for their newspaper, in an article titled A Love Affair With China. I have a PDF version of the article and a link to the online version. Here’s a snippet of it:

As a Western woman with a shorter Chinese husband, she has turned a lot of heads, but Jocelyn Eikenburg is determined to question and challenge stereotypes about Chinese men and Western women in love.

The 33-year-old American keeps a blog called “Speaking of China,” where she shares her understanding of Chinese culture and offers advice to those in family and dating dilemmas. She was named one of the “101 Inspiring Women Bloggers to Watch for 2010” by WE Magazine, a women’s online publication based in Florida. Continue reading “A Love Affair With China: Article about me in Global Times”

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