In the world I am Always a stranger I do not understand its language It does not understand my silence

- Bei Dao

The name Bei Dao was actually given to me with the help of friends. When we were publishing our unofficial magazine, Today, we wanted to avoid being …

- Bei Dao

On the one hand poetry is useless. It can't change the world materially. On the other hand it is a basic part of human existence. It came into the wo…

- Bei Dao

Freedom is nothing but the distance between the hunter and the hunted.

- Bei Dao

Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They…

- Bei Dao

Bei Dao became the most well-known name for me because of certain criticism of my work. Bei Dao was the name under which my work was criticized. So I…

- Bei Dao

Writing is the thing that sustains me and keeps me going. It is a form of self-preservation for me.

- Bei Dao

I don't think of writing my poems for China or for the world. I mainly think of a small audience of friends and people I know. I am writing for that …

- Bei Dao

Perhaps the final hour is come I have left no testament Only a pen, for my mother I am no hero in an age without heroes I just want to be a man.

- Bei Dao