"Intermittent Footsteps" captures the brilliance and melancholy of youth with its authenticity and freshness. It is a spiritual journey, a beautiful meditation on life and dreams. I am certain this is a wholesome, meaningful, and relatable original work for young readers. I believe Mudi will emerge as one of the most outstanding authors of the post-90s generation.
—Tan Xudong, Renowned Poet and Literary Critic

★Carefully crafted by "Children's Literature"! Highly recommended by renowned poet and literary critic Tan Xudong!
★A semi-autobiographical novel by a talented 15-year-old writer, using poetic language to depict the junior high school lives of several teenagers, represented by Qingcheng.
★Innocent dreams, budding emotions, simple joys, sincere friendships... It is a spiritual journey, a beautiful meditation on life and aspirations.

Hey, how should our story begin — with pure white or fresh green? In those silent years, what kind of song will pierce through us?
Hey, look — look at memories pulling memories, the sky embracing the sky, year after year. The accumulated rainwater resembles tears—arriving, then vanishing, leaving faint traces in the vast, dreamlike unknown guarded by migratory birds.
Hey, it's about to begin. Is this season still right? Are these petals still preserved? Does this hairpin still shine? Is this me the one you once met? Stop, go. Go, stop. Youth traces the veins of petals. Goodbye, or never again...
In the romantic days of being fifteen — Xilie, reserved and classical; Kaka, modern and lively; Sangmo, excellent and silent; the mature and steady Prince; and the gentle, meticulous sister Bei — they grew alongside one another, witnessing each other's vibrant youth, dreams, emotions, joys, and friendships.
This work flows with a soothing, beautiful, and warm energy, like a fairy tale blooming slowly in sunlight.

Bachelor of Dramatic Literature from the Central Academy of Drama, Master of Film Theory and Practice from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, and a member of the China Writers Association. She is currently a screenwriter.

Her published works include the "Youth Trilogy" (the novel " Intermittent Footsteps", the poetry collection "The Invisible Wind Blows", and the essay collection " Like a Pumpkin, Growing Silently"); the essay collection " Like Mist"; the short story collection "Whose Dreams in the Dream"; the long fantasy novel "The Young Simon and the Tamed Reindeer Lyka"; the long youth novel" Running Towards the Sun"; the picture book "The Cherry Tree"; and the "Zhang Mudi Fantasy Literature Series" (including "The Mirror in the Sky", "The Forest of Summer", "The Kite Lantern That Flew Away with the Wind", "The Night-Light Bird, Grandpa’s Secret Theatre", "Miss Qiu’s Clothing Store", and "The Bear Living on the Roof").
She has been honored with the title of one of the Top Ten Young Golden Writers by "Children’s Literature", the Excellence Award in the Fairy Tale Contest by "Oriental Children", the Taiwan Mudi Award, the Jin Jin Award by "Children’s Literature", and the Silver Award in the Hot Spring Cup Fairy Tale Contest by "Children’s Literature". Five of the books in the "Zhang Mudi Fantasy Literature Series" have been selected for the "National Hundred Classes and Thousand People Shared Reading List"; The Mirror in the Sky has been included in “Shanghai’s Good Children’s Books”; and "Miss Qiu’s Clothing Store" has been selected for the National Close-to-Mother Tongue Graded Reading List.

Hey, you tell me —
How should our story begin?
Pure white, or fresh green?
In those silent years
What kind of song will pierce through us?

Hey, look
Memories pulling memories,
The sky embracing the sky,
Year after year.
The accumulated rainwater
Resembles tears—
Arriving, then vanishing.
Faint traces remain in
The vast, dreamlike unknown
Guarded by migratory birds.

Hey, it's about to begin.
Is this season still right?
Are these petals still preserved?
Does this hairpin still shine?
Is this me
The one you once met?

Stop, go.
Go, stop.
Youth traces the veins of petals.
Goodbye, or
Never again...

“Intermittent Footsteps" is Mudi's first semi-autobiographical novel, written at the age of fifteen. With poetic language, it portrays the junior high school lives of several teenagers, represented by Qingcheng — their innocent dreams, budding emotions, simple joys, and sincere friendships. Mudi's writing flows with a soothing, beautiful, and warm energy, like a fairy tale blooming slowly in sunlight.

Contemporary teenagers rarely experience great storms, nor do they need to express so-called sorrow or profundity. The story simply unfolds around Qingcheng's life and emotions, creating a group of vivid and compelling characters: the reserved and classical Xilie, the modern and lively Kaka, the excellent yet silent Sangmo, the passionate and uninhibited You'an, the mature and steady Prince, and the gentle, meticulous sister Bei... They grow alongside one another, witnessing each other's vibrant youth — unassuming yet deeply heartfelt.

This novel does not merely depict the process of growing up. Growth is but a marker of life, seeping quietly and trivially into everyone's existence. As Mudi writes in the afterword: "Those fading fourteen-year-old days and the approaching fifteen are like unstoppable seasons of blossoms. From buds to full bloom, they lay bare all their purity, stubbornness, and longing. The language of youth grows in memory and sheds in words. The lamentations of time, viewed from the flow of water, are but the sound of oars and ripples in a spring day."

"Intermittent Footsteps" captures the love and melancholy of youth with its authenticity and freshness. It is a spiritual journey, a beautiful meditation on life and dreams. I am certain this is a wholesome, meaningful, and deeply relatable original work for young readers. I believe Mudi will stand out as one of the most remarkable voices of the post-90s generation, and the sky of contemporary children's literature will shine brighter with the emergence of this new star, Intermittent Footsteps.

Tan Xudong
August 2008, Beijing


【Sample Excerpt】
Hey, you tell me —
How should our story begin?
Pure white, or fresh green?
In those silent years
What kind of song will pierce through us?

Hey, look
Memories pulling memories,
The sky embracing the sky,
Year after year.
The accumulated rainwater
Resembles tears—
Arriving, then vanishing.
Faint traces remain in
The vast, dreamlike unknown
Guarded by migratory birds.

Hey, it's about to begin.
Is this season still right?
Are these petals still preserved?
Does this hairpin still shine?
Is this me
The one you once met?

Stop, go.
Go, stop.
Youth traces the veins of petals.
Goodbye, or
Never again...