Biographers extract extraordinary tales from lives of ordinary people

Lifting the veil

"Ordinary elders also need to be seen, understood and remembered," Ju said about the memoir-writing trend.

While the public is constantly fed stories about celebrities and their achievements, she believes that ordinary people care more about memories and emotions that are closer to home.

"It is more intimate, and resonates and connects with us as either family members, friends, or just ordinary people from similar backgrounds," she said.

She produces a photo of her grandfather, Ju Zhangyou, showing him as a handsome young man with smiling eyes. He was a military man and joined the People's Liberation Army at the age of 15, fighting in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), the War of Liberation (1946-49), and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53).

During those tumultuous years, he went through family breakdowns and other hardships in his personal life as he moved from place to place.

Ju said "grandpa" was a man of wisdom, courage, perseverance and great love, adding it was her father who mainly shared her grandfather's stories with Tong.

"Their conversations also gave me the first chance to see grandpa's personal files and clearly learn about his whole life since he was a child. During the process, I felt like he was no longer my grandpa in the story. He became someone I knew as an old friend by my side," she said.

Ju's family got in touch with Tong in early December and they had many online and in-person conversations afterward.