Bio

Jinghong Zhang was a postdoctoral fellow at the Australian Centre on China in the World, ANU. As an anthropologist, her current research focuses on Chinese culinary culture (in particular tea) and the interaction of lifestyle choices between China, Taiwan and the world. Her doctoral research explored how Puer tea, originating in Yunnan in southwest China, was manipulated into becoming a popular beverage in twenty-first century China. This work has been turned into a book and published by University of Washington Press, entitled Puer Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic (2013, Seattle). Prior to her postdoctoral fellowship at ANU, Jinghong was a lecturer at Yunnan University in China. Her earlier career as a television journalist and training in visual anthropology has given her experiences in video making. Jinghong makes extensive use of ethnographic films in her current research, which work with her written work to create mixed media presentation.