Shanghai Writing Project, initiated by Wang Anyi in 2008, Chairman of the Shanghai Writers Association, is the first foreign writer writing project in mainland China. The project accepts applications from foreign writers and invites a number of them to live in Shanghai for two months from September to October each year to experience Shanghai's daily life and feel the pulse of urban development. The Shanghai Writers Association provided various conveniences for their writings. In the past 12 years, more than 100 writers from 36 countries have been invited.
During these years, foreign writers in the city have created works like Shanghai Xiaolongbao, The lingering tea fragrance, Lu Xun's Four Dreams, Kung Fu Comedy, Zhongshan Park Flower Girl, Lost In Shanghai, Shanghai Tango, Shanghai As Home and other works. The writers in the city recorded the adventures and surprises they experienced in the city. Some Writers published books on subjects related to Shanghai after they returned to their own countries, some incorporated Chinese cultural elements into their works, some promoted the works of Shanghai writers and some even moved their family to Shanghai.