Renaissance man

In 2009, you published a fantasy novel and in the next two years, you published two novels that are collections of love letters. Where did you get the inspiration?

I like to imagine what life stories the people around me are having. I was inspired by my experience in Beijing as a "bei piao" [Beijing drifter] – many prototypes came from my neighbours in the same building and the little restaurants downstairs.

For the first book, I was an editor for an animation magazine then, so there are many things people who love ACG [anime, comics and games] can relate to. It's a book for young people, perhaps aged from middle school to university.

In the two love letter collections, I wanted to talk about the preservation [of love]. Vegetables can be preserved in the frozen section, but preserving love is difficult for human beings. I used daily-life objects to create love metaphors. It's not addressed to anyone specific; I just hope to be a person who can tell love stories that others can relate to.

Who's the most interesting celebrity you've ever interviewed?

Gwyneth Paltrow. I was invited by Boss to interview her in New York when she was the face of the brand's perfume. It was held in her hotel room; she was in a very luxurious velvet robe, lying on a sofa looking extremely rich and laid-back. I asked her, "Why were you chosen as the spokesperson?" She said in a very lazy tone: "I don't know." The Boss PR person was right next to us, so it was quite embarrassing. So then I tried to talk about something else, like "Your husband [Chris Martin of Coldplay] loves you and we all envy your marriage." She instantly became excited and began to talk a lot, like about that her husband had just released a new album and so on. The funny thing is, the next day I went back to China and I read about her divorce in a newspaper.