Who is Geling Yan?


Geling Yan is a Chinese-American author and was once a ballet dancer. Geling was born in Shanghai in 1958. She began performing as a ballet dancer at 12, and worked as a journalist in the Sino-Vietnamese War.

Yan's first husband was Kewei Li, son of writer Zhun Li. After divorcing Li, Yan later remarried Laurence A. Walker, a U.S. diplomat. They have an adopted daughter, Yanyan.

In 2011, Yimou Zhang adapted Yan's novel, The Flowers of War, into a hit movie. In 2014, her novel, The Prisoner Lu Yanshi, was adapted by Zhang into the movie Coming Home.