Wang Wei · Wang Fei · Wang Rui (Annie Wang)
ChineseCulture.net grew out of a family steeped in literature, music, art and cross-cultural curiosity. The three sisters grew up in Beijing and became known for combining classical Chinese culture, modern media and an international outlook.
ChineseCulture.net introduced the sisters through three contrasting personalities—“Classic Wang,” “Modern Wang” and “Future Wang.”
The “Classic Wang.” The eldest sister studied at the Central Academy of Drama and worked in broadcasting. ChineseCulture.net describes her interests in literature, traditional culture, ancient apparel and classical music.
Her 2001 novel Men’s Chastity drew significant attention and was reprinted three times during its first month.
The “Modern Wang.” A former Beijing journalist, multimedia producer and musician known especially for guqin and zither. She has helped introduce traditional Chinese music to audiences in China and the United States.
The sisters’ cultural activities also included concerts, salons and programs linking classical Chinese arts with contemporary life.
The “Future Wang.” The youngest sister became a bilingual author, journalist, public speaker and cultural commentator whose work moves between China and the United States.
Her English and Chinese books, media work and public programs continue the family’s East–West cultural conversation.
Family photographs trace the sisters’ lives from Beijing family gatherings and early cultural work to later years across China and the United States.
These books belong to the wider Wang family story and are identified clearly so they are not confused with Annie’s solo works.
Co-authored with my sisters
王葳 · 王菲 · 王蕤 · 1997
Published by 文化艺术出版社 in 1997, this first joint collection selected fiction and essays by the three sisters.
Wang Wei’s novel about forbidden love. The family’s original news archive recorded a prominent China Woman Daily feature and three reprints during the first month.
A National Bestseller · Written by Annie Wang’s mother, Lou Zhijun
A three-generation family tradition of music, poetry, language and Chinese literati culture.
The Wang Family Concert has been a family tradition since 1993, inspired by the Chinese literati tradition of 琴棋书画—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. At our three-generation family gatherings, we play the zither and piano and recite poetry in both Chinese and English. My American-born son recites in Chinese, while I recite in English. It is our family 雅集—an elegant gathering in the spirit of ancient Chinese literati, where family and friends came together for poetry, music, art, and sometimes flowers.
Another traditional ideal I love is 琴心剑胆—a gentle, cultivated heart joined with the courage of a swordsman. I see something of that in my son. He practices kung fu with the sword, yet he also sits at the piano and plays Chopin. To me, strength and refinement do not have to be opposites.
When I was growing up in China, access to the outside world was still a luxury, and I tried to teach myself English beyond the limited opportunities available at school. Years later, raising children in America brought the opposite challenge: how to keep them connected to Chinese language and culture. That is why we chose to recite poetry in our second languages.
I’m happy that my son grew up in America but speaks Chinese fluently and even writes poetry in Chinese. For us, the concert is more than a family performance—it continues a literati family tradition and passes language, culture, and memory from one generation to the next.
The family story also became an East–West story, connecting Beijing, California and generations raised between two cultures.
The archive continues beyond the early years, preserving later family gatherings and milestones as part of the same cultural story.
Founded in 1997 by the three Wang sisters, the site was created to introduce Chinese culture, literature, music and people to an international audience and to encourage communication between East and West.
The original family pages documented the sisters’ unconventional creative lives, their writing, music, performances, cultural events and the close family environment in which they grew up.
In 2002 their mother Lou Zhijun published a family history commonly presented by the site as China’s Bronte Sisters. The original archive records major media attention, book signings and strong early sales.
The new Annie Wang website will preserve the most meaningful family material from ChineseCulture.net rather than reducing it to a single outside link. Family photographs, books, stories, cultural programs and historical references can continue to be expanded here.
