Ji-li Jiang was born in Shanghai, China, in 1954. She graduated from Shanghai Teachers College and Shanghai University and was a science teacher before she came to the United States in 1984. After her graduation from the University of Hawaii, Ms. Jiang worked as an operations analyst for a hotel chain in Hawaii, then as a budget director for a health care company in Chicago. In 1992, she started her own company, East West Exchange, to promote cultural exchange between Western countries and China. Ms. Jiang lives in the San Francisco area. This is her first book for children.