She was born in Beijing in 1958. When she arrived in London, she worked as a janitor while working on her first and highly acclaimed book. This book, The Good Women of China, relates her stories of women she met and interacted with as her job in China as a radio broadcaster. Xinran was very successful and popular in her former job in China. The Good Women of China was published in 2002 and has been translated into 30 languages.