Born in Shandong province in the mid-1950s, Zhang Wei is one of the most prolific writers in Mainland China today. He has won over thirty national literary prizes, including some of the most prestigious in China. Although he has been compared to such Western writers as William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Zhang is unique for the breadth and inclusiveness of his literary and intellectual reach. A liberal and original thinker, as well as an idealistic one, he focuses his concern on culture, especially on the issue of Chinese cultural identity in the post-revolutionary era.