Ling Wei

Ling Wei (魏玲) is a freelance editor and independent writer based in Beijing. She previously wrote feature stories for platforms like Esquire China and Portrait Magazine. Most work published in Chinese.

Selected Writing

• Racer Lang Xu and the Green Light Era / 赛车手徐浪和那个绿灯闪耀的年代 — ONE Lab, 2017
  A 50,000-word feature story on the racing careers of second-generation coal bosses and the free, energetic, yet transient decade of China’s private economy from 1998 to 2008. The linked version is an excerpt.
• Chen Tianqiao Moves to the Promised Land / 陈天桥 搬家到应许之地 — Guyu Lab of Tencent News, 2019
  A story about how China’s former richest man moved to Silicon Valley to fight anxiety through neuroscience.
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find / 好人难寻 — Guyu Lab of Tencent News, 2018
  Feature story on a bizarre case where a good Samaritan’s bravery led to an escapee’s death.
• The Armless, the Blind, Ducks, and White Storks / 无臂人，盲者，鸭子，白鹳 — ONE Lab, 2016
  Feature on flood disasters in northern China, told through the lives of two disabled tree-planters.
• Capital Winter, Startups, and Young People of Our Time / 入侵的消息已经被证实：资本寒冬、创业和我们时代的年轻人 — Esquire China, 2015
  A 20,000-word feature on the rise and fall of China’s youth during the startup boom.
• A Homicide in the Daxing’anling Mountains / 大兴安岭杀人事件 — Esquire China, 2015
  Feature story on a homicide involving Ewenki and Han people during the final days of logging in China’s largest virgin forest.
• Made in Dongguan / 东莞制造 — Portrait Magazine, 2013
  Feature on China’s largest pornography crackdown and its impact on local sex workers.

  Read English translation →

Selected Editing

• Stealing an 11-Year-Old Girl from Her Home / 从家中偷走一个11岁女孩 — Real Connection, 2024
• The Hu Youping We Knew / 我们所认识的胡友平 — Phoenix News, 2024
• When a Peking University Professor Becomes a 24-Hour Caregiver / 当一位北大教授成为24小时照护者 — Phoenix News, 2024
• Grassroots Solidarity: More Small Restaurants Offer Free Meals to the Unemployed / 底层的互助：越来越多小餐馆对无收入者免单 — Phoenix News, 2024

Some were published under the byline “GGY.”