I would give this 3.5 stars!
It was interesting, detailed, and provided some good insight into Chinese culture and its impacts on experiences in the western world.

Wang Lan has recently traveled from Beijing, China to Southampton, England to care for her aunt. She is a skilled acupuncturist, who is able to treat a variety of medical problems.
After a while, she decides to stay in England to peruse work. This proves to be troublesome for her, as acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine has not yet been fully accepted in western culture. In this story, Wang Lan must navigate challenges In her career, acceptance into British society, heartbreak, love and friendship.

This story covers a lot of content.
We meet many different characters, and it takes place over a very long time frame (10+ years).
Because of this, there is quite a lot of development in all different aspects of their lives.
I really liked this. I enjoyed feeling seeing how much the characters grew with time, and how well they were eventually able to adapt to their new environment.

I really enjoyed the story of Wang Lan's friend, Li Yan.
Li Yan's goal at the start is essentially just to find a rich British man to marry, so that she can live an easy and carefree life.
This mindset however, leads her to several very undesirable men and unfortunate experiences with her suitors.
I was really happy with the way she changed from start to finish, and her realization that money is not always the most valuable thing.

I will say that I got a little bit confused at times, but I do not think it really had anything to do with the writing or the story itself.
My difficulties really came down to keeping up with each of the characters. Who was who and what role they played in the story.
Luckily, there is a character guide at the beginning of the book which I found useful at several points.

The writing is also a bit stiff. It is very clear and written in a way that is easy to understand, but the dialogue does not always have a natural feel.
With this being said, I know that English is not the first language of the characters in this story- so I do not want to critique it too much, as it may be purposeful.

Overall, I thought this was a nice story. It is a bit on the longer side, and is not what I would classify as an "easy" read. However, I think the plot was good and quite insightful. This may be of interest to readers with a focus in multicultural literature!

Thank you to Netgalley, Troubador Publishing and author John Xiao Zhang for providing me with the eARC of "Beijing Girls in England", in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: September 28th, 2025

I really enjoyed this as a romance novel, it had that element that I was looking for from the description. It uses the experience of Wang Lan and Li Yan perfectly and was engaged with the overall feel of this. John Xiao Zhang was able to weave a strong tale and was invested in what was happening. It uses the historical element in a way that worked and was invested in the overall feel of this.