Christine Cayol (left)Photo: Courtesy of Ni Min

Christine Cayol, a French woman who has lived in Beijing for nearly 20 years, shared her thoughts about Chinese lifestyles and wisdom concerning time management at an event on Saturday in Beijing for the release of the Chinese edition of her book Pourquoi les Chinois ont-ils le temps? (lit: Chinese people in time).

The French writer, who has been working on cultural exchanges between China and France such as the launching of the Yishu 8 gallery, a hub for cultural exchanges, has closely observed Chinese people's life and wisdom during her time in Beijing. 

In her new book, she chose to present what she saw and her thoughts on these experiences of the past two decades. 

"Living here for almost 20 years, I'm witnessing how Chinese people live and make life and art together. It is interesting and different to see how Chinese people treat time when compared with Europeans," she said.  

Cayol gradually found that Chinese people have made friends with time itself and are not hurried all the time. She points out that the Chinese people's wisdom in dealing with time might be a cure for the Western "time disease" as more and more people are suffering under the control of time and smart phones. 

"However, from China's culture and philosophy, we found Chinese people know how to ally with time," the writer says.