J.D. Brown has written about China since 1984, when he taught English there at a medical college in Xi'an, the ancient capital. He is the author of many guidebooks to the Far East for Frommer's, The Wall Street Journal and Berlitz, and he has published accounts of his Far East travels in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic Traveler and International Herald Tribune. His books address a range of topics, from boat building to the author Henry Miller, as well as his travels in the Far East. His next book, Lime Kiln, is a novel set both on an island in Puget Sound and Shanghai.