Chen Zhongshi, celebrated writer and vice chairman of the China Writers Association, died at the age of 73 on Friday morning in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. 
  
Chen lost battle against cancer and died in hospital at 7:45 a.m. on Friday, according to sources with the Shaanxi provincial writers association. 
  
A native of Xi'an, Chen worked as a teacher before he became a local cultural official. His best-known novel, "Bai Lu Yuan" (White Deer Tableland), took the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 1997.