Author of many talents plots next chapter of life

Feng says his generation, which was born in the 1970s when China started to adopt reform and opening-up, has witnessed the rapid change of China, and the growth of its economic power has made Chinese people more confident in dealing with the world. The change and the ensuing globalization have enabled Feng to "view the world as a level playing field".

Feng says he noticed that many management theories from the West cannot be applied well in the Chinese market. So, in 2018, he started writing books on business and management which later became a series called Getting Things Done.

"They present a management theory blended with Chinese traditional wisdom," he says, adding that his sources are from methodologies from McKinsey & Co where he had worked, the Chinese history classics, such as Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), and his firsthand experience of working in two State-owned companies.

Feng enjoys his stay in London, where he runs along the River Thames three times a week, and finds his neighborhood very convenient for grocery shopping, strolling in the park and borrowing books.

"It has reminded me of living in a Beijing hutong (a traditional residential alleyway) where everything is close by," he says.

"I like the rainy season of the British winter, because one finds inner peace in rainy days－then the details in your memory emerge," Feng says about writing about his late father. "The smell of my father's dishes, his calling us to dinner …they all come back to me.

"A novelist relies not on theory, not even on story, but on those kinds of details," he says.

"I worried about experiencing writer's block when I first got stuck in London, but now it seems I still have the ability to write and express myself."