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Hotelier checks in for literary greatness
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-20 08:38
He is one of the most popular writers in China striking a chord with readers
besotted with his detective tales that are mixed with heart-thumping romance and
the mean streets of crime.
The popular novel writer Hai Yan
[baidu] | For book-worms and drama fans - many of
his books have been dramatised for TV -, Lu Haiyan is a household name and
publishers are forever knocking at his door or constantly calling his mobile
phone to plead with him to sign another contract.
You are perhaps picturing a writer with greying hair, wearing a furrowed
brow, tweed jacket with leather elbow patches, and who lives a solitary life
occasionally staring out of the window from his desk in search of inspiration.
Wrong. This prolific writer works part-time, usually after office hours and well
into the night.
For Lu is also a successful businessman with a polished corporate identity.
He has for many years worked in hotel management and tourism - a career as
prosperous as his literary calling.
He used to be general manager of the Kunlun Hotel, one of the country's most
prestigious five-star hotels. Today, he is vice-president of Jinjiang Group,
which Kunlun belongs to, and president of the China Tourist Hotels Association.
The post of the
flim "Yu Guanyin" [baidu] | How has he managed to
strike the perfect balance in his crammed diary would have the most sought-after
Californian life-coach catching his breath. And if that's not enough to impress,
then it is as this juncture that we learn this overachiever was a school
dropout, and is thus one of those one-in-a-million, destined for greatness, as
we mere mortals follow the correct path and put up with the mundane 9-to-five to
flop down at the end of each day to read a good book or watch TV. Write a novel,
we say? Love to, but way too tired...
Lu left school when he was a fourth grader aged 10 and has never looked back.
Call me Haiyan
Slim, slick and serene, Lu is known in literary circles simply by his first
name, Haiyan.
He was born in Beijing on October 1, 1954, the fifth National Day of the New
China.
His childhood was not a happy one. His parents were estranged when he was
three years old, and divorced when he was nine.
Both his parents were persecuted during the "cultural revolution (1966-76)",
and because of this the young Haiyan did not complete his primary school
education.
At the age of 15, he was recruited into the People's Liberation Army. After
four years of military service, he joined the public security department as a
police officer.
This experience gave him rich nourishment for his future writing, as it
revealed the sophistication of personal relationships.
In his late 20s he gradually developed a liking for writing. But he was too
shy to let his family know about his hobby, so wrote secretly at night when he
was off duty.
After finishing his maiden book in 1986, "Plain-clothes Policeman" (Bianyi
Jingcha), he decided to send it to the People's Literature Publishing House, one
of the country's most authoritative literature publishers at that time.
Although his home was located only several hundred metres away from the
publishing house, the shy young man mailed his novel, instead of sending it to
them directly.
He waited for more than three months but received no reply. Finally, he
summoned up all his courage and made a visit to the publishing house.
There he was surprised to find his manuscript, which contained 450,000
Chinese characters, buried under waste papers, having never been read by anyone.
He picked it up and gave it to an elderly editor.
"I wrote 60 chapters. Please read at least one chapter, or one page," he
begged.
A month later he was told the novel would be published.
"Plain-clothes Policeman," featuring the twists and turns of an ordinary
young policeman's career during the "cultural revolution," rolled off the
presses six months later and sold 300,000 copies.
It was the first batch of "real" best-sellers in China after the publishing
industry, all but erased during the "cultural revolution," was rebuilt.
A year later, in 1987, the story was adapted for TV and the drama became an
instant national hit.
Hotel calling
After his initial success, Haiyan temporarily stopped writing.
He says he was determined to be a good cop so put all his efforts into his
first career.
At this time, a small hotel run by the public security department was short
of hands and Haiyan was transferred to help out.
The posting was at first temporarily, but Haiyan, who showed an ability to
cope with people of different characters, soon showed a talent for hotel
management, and appeared a natural in this new field.
Haiyan became deputy general manager of the Kunlun Hotel, but his ability to
run a five-star hotel was doubted by its American counterparts which took over
the hotel's parent company, the Shanghai-based Jinjiang Group, in 1990.
But Haiyan convinced his critics with his practical achievement and personal
skills and remained to become a respected senior manager.
While his business career took off, his writing career was suspended.
For nearly 10 years, he did not write a word.
Then, in 1994, Haiyan was invited by a TV station to write a detective story.
While conceiving the storyline, Haiyan thought of a musician who lost a
valuable violin while travelling abroad. The musician had asked Haiyan to help
him contact the International Criminal Police Organization.
This gave Haiyan inspiration. He decided to write a story about the smuggling
of musical instruments.
It was called "Love Affair" (Nayichang Fenghua Xueyue de Shi), and was made
into a hit TV drama by renowned director Zhao Baogang. This boosted Haiyan's
confidence and inspired him to pick up the pen again.
He has since become an industrious writer. Every one or two years he publishs
a new novel - and without exception, all become best-sellers immediately after
appearing on shop shelves.
His latest novel, "Blood-red River" (Heliu Ruxie), was published by the
People's Literature Publishing House in July. Again, the market response has
been very, very good.
As popular fictions, Haiyan's novels have drawn some criticism for being too
"superficial."
At the recent Beijing International Book Fair, while attending the
interactive "Bertelsmann Blue Sofa Show," Haiyan met a seriously critical
reader, Shang Jianguo, who claimed to have read all of his works.
Shang said while Haiyan does well in telling wonderful stories, he always
fails to create impressive figures. The protagonists have similar characters in
most of his novels.
He also charged Haiyan's novels for being too "commercialized" and "having no
literary sense."
Shang's opinion was supported by other writers but who are reluctant to
make public comments.
Haiyan argues that different readers have different standards, and says he
never tries to cater to the tastes of readers. You are what you read,
afterall.
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