Author Ling Zhijun is well known in China for his reporting on China’s economic reform, and for his book “Jiao Feng”. This book sold over two million copies in China.  The author is a seasoned reporter for the People’s Daily; based in Shanghai.

Martha Avery, the translator and editor of this book in English, has translated a number of works of Chinese literature into English that have been published by such presses as Viking Penguin, WW Norton, HarperCollins, Farrar Straus Giruoux and David Godine.  Her most recent authored book is Tea Road: China and Russia Meet Across the Steppe.  This is an economic history of the region and was published by the Intercontinental Press (China) in 2004.  Ms Avery is based in Boulder, Colorado, but travels frequently to China as business consultant for a large software distributor called Software Spectrum, Inc.