Shenzhan Liao
廖申展
Educator · Writer · New Yorker
Born in Chongqing, China, Shenzhan came to New York in 2002 as a young student — and over two decades discovered the city as a place of possibility, challenge, belonging, and home.
New book · Published July 4, 2026
我与纽约
My New York: An Ordinary Person’s Twenty Years in America
Part memoir, part collection of personal essays, the book traces Shenzhan’s journey from Rongchang, a small town in Chongqing, to New York — where she studied, grew up, and gradually found her place in a city and country that were at first entirely foreign to her.
Rather than a story of extraordinary achievement, it is written from the perspective of an ordinary person: a record of growing into oneself far from home.
Available now in Simplified Chinese · English edition expected 2027
This is the story of an ordinary Chinese student’s coming of age in the United States — yet many readers may recognize a part of themselves in it.
— Shenzhan Liao, 我与纽约
From Rongchang to New York
A city continually being discovered
For Shenzhan, New York is not simply a place on a map. It is a city continually being discovered, interpreted, and made one’s own — through the people, places, encounters, and everyday moments of more than twenty years.
Since 2008 she has worked at China Institute of America, where her work in language, culture, and education has brought her into close contact with generations of students, teachers, artists, and communities.
