There’s no better way to get to know another culture than through personal connections.

Author Bill Brown, who planned to stay in China for two years and ended up staying for thirty-five, knows the power of intercultural exchange first-hand. In this intimate collection, he shares the stories of twenty Americans who have lived long enough in China to truly understand it. Despite an at times fraught relationship between the two countries, these people have discovered up close that the China Dream and the American Dream are both the universal dream of peace and prosperity for our families and our nations.

In 2023, China President Xi Jinping underscored the value of people-to-people relationships when he met US President Joe Biden at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco. President Xi stressed that “the hope of the China-US relationship lies in the people. Its foundation is in the two societies, its future depends on the youth, and its vitality comes from exchanges at subnational levels.” President Xi’s speech was warmly welcomed by those keen on friendlier China-US relations, including Professor Hu Min, international education expert and chairman of New Channel International Education Group. Hu Min suggested publishing examples of friendships forged by Americans living in China and tasked his friend with the project. The choice was clear, as Brown had spent two decades collecting stories of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Americans in China, even going so far as to track down and interview their descendants in the US.

West Meets East is an opportunity to see China from a new perspective, where friendship brings countries closer together. For two great powers, we have much to gain if we pursue cooperation—and the entire world has much to lose if we do not.