Young China
Week of April 20, 2019
Three programs with Zak Dychtwald:
- 5 Things the West Gets Wrong About Young China
- The Chinese Innovator’s Advantage: how a culture of rapid change is challenge Silicon Valley
- Non-Fiction Publishing: From process to publishing, how to craft your non-fiction book
Zak Dychtwald first went to China because of his love for Science Fiction. When deciding where to study abroad as a sophomore at Columbia, he figured he could go to Europe and study history or head to China and see where everyone was saying the future would unfold. Realizing quickly the China he was experiencing was different than the China we often read about in the media, Zak decided to forego the job search and move back to China. He moved to a small city with only the address of a hostel and the phone number of a language program—no job, no friends or contacts, and only a plan to learn Mandarin and strike out on his own.
Seven years later, Zak, a fluent self-taught Mandarin speaker, published the critically acclaimed Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World, as featured in the WSJ, Washington Post, and BBC World. Young China explores how the country’s young generation, born after 1990, feels about everything from money and sex, to their government, the West and China’s shifting role in the world.
Zak is also the founder Young China Group, a think tank and consultancy aimed at building bridges of understanding between China and the rest of the world. Through YCG, Zak has worked with companies and governments worldwide on understanding how Chinese identity drives economic and political outcomes.
The just-turned 29-year old Columbia University graduate, Zak has spoken at forums and summits across four continents, a rising authority on the subject. Zak loves reading, science fiction, basketball, hiking, and traveling to faraway places. Zak is based in Beijing and New York.