From Shaanxi province. Professor of Literature and Translation at Northwestern University, Xi'an.

Translator of Jia Pingwa's works: "As a fellow native of Shaanxi province, a professor of literature at Jia's alma mater and a friend of the author for more than 30 years I've made it my life's task to translate his work into English. It should be said that I am not one of the "Chinese friends" Eric mentions as having made desultory translations of his prose in the 1990s. In 2010 my translation of his early novella 黑氏 (published under the title of 'The Country Wife') appeared in a respected US literary journal to modest acclaim. Together with my team (which includes several qualified professors and a British professor of literature) we have translated the whole of 'The Abandoned Capital' (废都) and have others in progress."