Vivian Ling has enjoyed a long career in Chinese language and literature, teaching at Oberlin College and Indiana University, and directing Chinese language programs abroad in Taipei, Shanghai, Kunming and Beijing. She is the author of many books on Chinese language education, including The Field of Chinese Language Education in the U.S.: A Retrospective of the 20th Century . With Peng Wang she has co-authored Essential Mandarin Chinese Grammar, Chinese Stories for Language Learners and A Bilingual Treasury of Chinese Folktales , all published by Tuttle. Peng Wang has been on the faculty at Georgetown University since 2002, teaching various Chinese language courses including Business Chinese and Chinese for Heritage Learners. Formerly, she was chief instructor at the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University, as well as a visiting faculty at Oberlin College and Brown University. She has co-authored three other books with Vivian Ling: Essential Mandarin Chinese Grammar, Chinese Stories for Language Learners and A Bilingual Treasury of Chinese Folktales , all published by Tuttle.

Yang Xi is an artist and illustrator combines classical and contemporary styles. She holds an MA from the College of Fine Arts at Nanjing Art Institute. While specializing in illustrations related to Chinese culture, she has an eye toward the sensibilities of an international audience.