Anna Hartley is an Australian writer.

She has lived in Paris and Beijing since 2011.

Her work has been published in The Washington Post, France 24, Forbes Travel Guide, The Houston Chronicle, The New Zealand Herald, The Vancouver Sun, the Beijinger, and Babbel Magazine.

2019 Year in Review: The Books That Caught Our Eye and Stoked Our Imaginations

2019 Year in Review: The Books That Caught Our Eye and Stoked Our Imaginations

The biggest Beijing book news this year was arguably the closure of our beloved Sanlitun bookstore and hangout, The Bookworm. Yet while this certainly left a big hole in our community, when it comes to actual books, 2019 still offered plenty to be happy about. We look back on a selection of the Beijing and China-related books that caught our eye this year, and made waves both here and abroad.

Read More

Maintaining Long-Distance Friendships From China: Some Practical Tips

Maintaining Long-Distance Friendships From China: Some Practical Tips

Maintaining a healthy friendship at the best of times requires some work and commitment, and when one of you moves far away, things can get more than a little tricky. Over the years I have picked up a few tips about how to maintain friendships abroad, and specifically, from China.

Read More

One Year in Beijing: Advice to My Former Self

One Year in Beijing: Advice to My Former Self

Today marks exactly one year since my husband and I arrived in Beijing. It’s been quite an adventure for us both, and as with any life change, I've learned, grown, and changed a lot. Mostly because I did everything ass-backward. There were moments when I've wished that a future version of myself could whisper the secrets of Beijing in my ear and smooth the path before me. But if I actually had the opportunity to go back in time and share such pieces of advice, what would they be?

Read More

Delving into the hutongs of Beijing, chopsticks at the ready

Delving into the hutongs of Beijing, chopsticks at the ready

I spent 10 days in Beijing last November, and high on my list of things to do was the Lost Plate culinary tour. Driving from stop to stop by tuk-tuk, we dove head-first into the local food scene that is at the heart of the dense 'hutong' neighborhoods. I wrote about it for The Washington Post.

Read More