Through cross-cultural journeys, Chinese writer Xu Zechen explores possibilities of self and literature

A local mask-maker-yellow-skinned, black-haired, black-eyed, his slender figure accentuated by a long, delicate neck- appeared before "me" in Mexico by chance, clad in the traditional garments of the Mayan people. His exquisite craft in mask-making seemed to speak across time and space with the artistry of "my uncle," a scion of a Chinese family of carpenters. The mask's soulful eyes conveyed the Mayan civilization's profound meditations on life, mystery, and inheritance.

This short story The Mayan Maskforms part of the latest result in Xu Zechen's "writings from afar"-a new chapter of description and imagination centered on Mayan civilization, by the Chinese author and Mao Dun Literature Prize laureate. After Xu's characters "ran across Beijing's Zhongguancun" or journeyed north along the Grand Canal to trace the tides of history, migration, and the fate of individuals, Xu now stands on the threshold of a new literary realm-a landscape stretching far beyond the familiar streets of Beijing and the measured rhythms of home.

Xu's new collection of overseas stories took shape over 15 years. Weaving firsthand experiences in the US, India, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and other countries into a narrative told in the first person, he links together the Mayan pyramids of Chichen Itza, the lawns of Central Park in New York, and the bustling markets of India into one journey, the singular adventure of a Chinese traveler abroad.

For Xu, foreign settings are never an end in themselves. The allure of the unknown is balanced by his belief that true cross-cultural fiction lies not in exotic spectacle but in the nuanced negotiations of identity and belonging that arise wherever worlds meet.

A reader nicknamed "Mangyuan" remarked on Douban, a major Chinese review platform: "The author carefully conjures a series of objects rich with Mexican exoticism: tropical rainforests, Mayan pyramids, totems of the sun god and serpent god... Yet, curiously, beneath these exotic surfaces, there seems to be a faint but perceptible resonance with the traditional culture of China, a subtle suggestion aimed at sensitive Chinese readers."

Bridging worlds, blending traditions

When Xu began to work on his latest collection, Stories from Elsewhere, he was already a writer with a deep belief in literature's true purpose: to explore and illuminate the complexity of being human. For him, the act of writing has always been inseparable from the act of living. With each passing year, and with each new destination, this conviction deepened. Xu's work became a persistent search for the emotional and existential truths that connect people across different cultures and ages.

Xu's prose pursues what he calls "translucency"-a clarity and honesty that is neither flashy nor simplistic. He often compares his ideal writing to freshly steamed rice: lustrous yet natural, full-bodied without being heavy, luminous in a way that feels both natural and effortless. This metaphor captures his approach to storytelling: language should be as unpretentious and nourishing as a perfect bowl of rice, offering depth and satisfaction without ornament.

What distinguishes Xu's recent work apart is his creative dialogue with Chinese literary tradition. His engagement with Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi), the classic compendium of supernatural stories by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) novelist Pu Songling, is evident throughout his fiction. Years of academic study convinced Xu that Liaozhai Zhiyiis not merely a storehouse of marvels but a meditation between reality and fantasy, the ordinary and the otherworldly.

Inspired by Liaozhai Zhiyi, Xu tests the limits of narrative. The fantasy seeps into the everydayness, and seemingly straightforward stories drift into realms of myth and unresolved mystery. In The Mayan Mask, for instance, the line between historical fact and imagined possibility dissolves, leaving readers suspended between worlds. Xu is less interested in offering answers than in creating space for ambiguity to breathe. "I want my readers to feel that at any moment, the familiar might give way to the strange," he told the Global Times. This sense of openness, of stories that end without finality but with a lingering resonance, has become the signature of Xu's fiction.

A life between words: Writer and editor

Beyond his achievements as a novelist, Xu has spent over two decades as an editor at People's Literature, one of China's most influential literary magazines. This dual career has shaped both his creative process and his perspective on contemporary literature. The constant exposure to new manuscripts keeps his critical faculties sharp and his awareness of literary trends acute, even as the repetition sometimes dulls the thrill of seeing his own work in print.

For Xu, editing is a double-edged craft. It offers a panoramic view of the literary landscape, yet demands a vigilance against imitation. The process has made him more deliberate and restrained in his own writing-less interested in display, more focused on clarity, rhythm, and the subtle interplay of voice and silence. He strives for that translucency in every line, hoping his prose will nourish rather than merely impress.

Short fiction has become his chosen form, offering both intensity and discipline. Xu likens each story to a droplet of water, in which entire worlds shimmer. The brevity of the form demands precision and the courage to leave things unsaid. Many of his short stories serve as laboratories for future novels, places to test the fusion of reality and imagination, structure and improvisation.

For Xu, writing is no longer just a profession but a vital instinct, as natural and necessary as breathing. "Not writing feels like holding my breath," he admitted. Through fiction, he continues to explore an identity, shaped by the interplay of Chinese roots and global experience, always moving between cultures and selves.

Drawing from deep wells of tradition and the restless currents of the modern world, Xu creates stories where the foreign turns familiar and the familiar strange. In the translucency of his prose and the breadth of his vision, Xu offers readers not just stories, but invitations -to cross boundaries, to dwell in uncertainty, and to discover, again and again, the humanity at the heart of literature.