Zha Jianying admits to having a "1980s complex."

The Chinese author channeled her fascination of the decade that influenced China's transition in her recently published book The 1980s.

The book, published by Beijing-based SDX Publishing Company in May, reminisces about the era through interviews with 12 people who were culture activists in the 1980s, but later disappeared almost entirely from the scene.

Zha, a culture critic who received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003, said she is surprised at the heated responses accompanying the book's release.

"I guess it is because we are telling some truths. It is much more important to speak honestly than to speak smartly," she said. "We don't lack smart people in China. We lack people who have the necessary courage and skills to speak the truth."

Though she spent the majority of the 1980s outside China, Zha's interest in that time period remained strong.

After graduating from Peking University in 1981, she went to the United States to earn her bachelor's degree at the University of South Carolina in 1984, and a Mphil at Columbia University in New York in 1987. She then returned to Beijing and now shuttles back and forth between China and the United States.

The idea of compiling The 1980s first came to Zha two years ago when she was working at Time Out Beijing as the magazine's editorial advisor.

At first the magazine was going to invite five people to talk about the 1980s, but soon found the topic was too heavy and unsuitable for the city guide, which boasts an easygoing style.

Zha decided to expand the feature she was writing into a book, hoping to accommodate in-depth discussions and genuine introspection.

She was so engrossed in the idea that she suspended her plan of writing a sequel to her 1995 book, China Pop: How Soap Operas, Tabloids, and Bestsellers Are Transforming a Culture, which portrays the impact of popular culture and mass media on traditional Chinese society.