“She is the heroine, like Pavel Korchagin.” Said by my mom when I asked her about her impression on Haidi Zhang. She is indeed, designed by the CPC and Communist Youth League of China to be a heroine for the Chinese youth and people with disabilities in the 1980s. The national campaign for Haidi Zhang begun with the first publication of her article If You are a Meteor, Then You Should Leave Your Light to the Earth in 1983 and her story were then quickly spread throughout the whole country. In the following years (and continuing today), Haidi Zhang wrote essays about her life, gave inspirational talks all over the country, and became an important figure in the government and the party as a representative for the disabled. As a heroine like Pavel Korchagin, she is brave, tough, not afraid of any difficulties in life, at least this is how she was represented.

As Haidi Zhang became so famous in mainland China, her life story started to define the ideal disabled figure in China. Haidi Zhang’s figure, writings and ideologies fit perfectly with the propaganda strategies of the country: a female proletarian fighter against adversaries and a strong believer in communism and serving the society. As the role model for disabled people, Haidi Zhang is showing how a disabled people should live and what a disabled people’s spirit should be like: try the best not to be a burden and find a way to contribute to the society; and as the role model for the Chinese youth, she is shaping the social impression for a disabled figure: struggled in an inferior body but still trying to serve the people. And, when she was put up as a national campaign by the CPC, Haidi Zhang became the words of the party, the government and the country.