CHINA> Photo
Zhang elected new Chairperson of CDPF
(CFP/Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-14 11:59


Zhang Haidi, the new chairperson of the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), applauds during the closing session of the fifth national congress of the CDPF in Beijing, November 13, 2008. [Asianewsphoto] Click to read our archive story on Zhang Haidi in March 1983


She also tried her hand at acupuncture when she was still a teenager and living in a rural village where her parents were receiving "re-education" between 1970 and 1973.

She taught the children in the village to read and write, and treated country folks when they were ill.

In 1983, Zhang rose to national fame when she was named one of the most distinguished youths in the country. On May 4, the National Youth Day, Deng Xiaoping wrote an inscription: Learn from Zhang Haidi.

The same year, she took to writing and translating. She has since written several long novels and won national literary awards.

Her novel, Dream on Wheelchair, was also published in Japan and South Korea in the early 1990s.