Gabriel Safdie is pictured with his new book Affair with China, which he will launch later this month at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival. (Photo courtesy of Gabriel Safdie/Facebook)
Get local news like this every morning. Subscribe free below.
Pulse Newsroom
Stanstead-area resident Gabriel Safdie is set to launch his new book Affair with China later this month at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, offering readers a deeply personal account of more than four decades of travel, work and cultural exchange in China.
The book will be introduced on April 25 at 11 a.m. in a conversation with author Charlie Foran, marking what Safdie describes as the culmination of a long and evolving relationship with the country. In a recent interview, he said the project draws on experiences dating back to the early 1980s, when he first began visiting China alongside his father.
Decades-long connection to China
“I started traveling to China around the beginning of the ’80s… and it was my father who took me to China because he was working with China,” Safdie said.
Following his father’s sudden death in 1986, Safdie took over the family business and continued working closely with China, travelling there frequently—often several times a year—while also pursuing interests in the arts and photography. Over time, those parallel paths shaped the foundation of his book.
“This book here, Affair with China, is a story of how I got involved with the country in a number of ways,” he explained, noting his work in trade as well as his involvement in cultural exchanges, including bringing Canadian theatre and visual art to Chinese audiences.
Safdie describes his experience as a “comprehensive relationship” with China, one that allowed him to travel extensively across the country—from Tibet to Xinjiang—while documenting its rapid transformation through photography. The book spans roughly 40 to 45 years of those experiences.
“I was able to explore the country in a very profound way…,” he said.
Photography and storytelling
The publication also includes a strong visual component, featuring many photographs. For Safdie, photography served as both a creative outlet and a form of record-keeping.
“I didn’t keep a journal so much—my journal really… is the photos themselves,” he said.
This kind of local reporting doesn’t show up in your feed by accident.
Get it delivered daily by subscribing below.
Beyond personal narrative, Affair with China touches on key historical and political moments, including Safdie’s presence in Beijing in the lead-up to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He also addresses the broader social and cultural shifts he has witnessed over decades of change.
“There’s always a question to see China as it goes through its cataclysmic changes… and I was able to see that and document that,” he said.
Admiration and criticism
While Safdie speaks critically about aspects of China’s political system, he emphasizes that his admiration lies with its people.
“I do care a lot for the Chinese people and I dedicate the book to them,” he said. “It’s the people themselves who have been building this incredible country.”
He points to the country’s rapid development as one of the most striking aspects of his experience.
“They have brought out hundreds of millions of people from poverty… the infrastructure of China makes us look like it’s so primitive,” he said.
At the same time, Safdie acknowledges the complexities of modern China, including issues of censorship and cultural assimilation affecting minority regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet.
Upcoming events in Montreal and Stanstead
In addition to the Montreal launch, Safdie will host a more local event at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Stanstead, where he plans to meet readers and discuss the book in an informal setting.
“I’ll just have some coffees… talk about the book and maybe read something,” he said.
In a Facebook post earlier this month, Safdie expressed his excitement about the launch, thanking those who supported the project and inviting the public to attend the Blue Metropolis event.
Looking ahead, he is already preparing a companion volume focused exclusively on photography, tentatively titled Faces of China, which will highlight portraits and street scenes gathered over decades of travel.
For now, Affair with China stands as a reflection on a lifetime of connection—one shaped by business, art and enduring personal ties.
“It’s a fascinating, fascinating country,” Safdie said.
Don’t miss the next story that affects your community.
Join thousands of readers getting The Pulse every morning—plus breaking news alerts when it matters most.
If you value this kind of local journalism, consider supporting it.
Subscribe, share and like!