The Wall Dancers

An eye-opening exploration of the Chinese internet that reveals the intricate dance between freedom and control in contemporary China.

In the late 1990s, as the world was waking up to the power of the internet, Chinese authorities began constructing a system of online censorship now known as the Great Firewall. But far from being barren, the digital world behind the firewall brimmed with new subcultures and tech innovations, offering many citizens previously unimaginable connection and opportunity.

Today, as the country's leadership intensifies its control of public discourse and Western headlines reduce the Chinese public to a faceless monolith, journalist Yi-Ling Liu presents an intimate portrait of the entrepreneurs, activists, artists, and dreamers navigating China's transformation into both the world's largest online user base and one of its most populous authoritarian states.

Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, The Wall Dancers equips readers with the tools to assess the past, present, and future of a global power. A vital exploration of the internet's power for both control and liberation, and an unforgettable work of human storytelling, it ultimately asks what it means to live within the technological systems that now shape all of our lives.