Liu Xianping: China Author

I have been observing and experiencing the natural world for over 30 years… but actually I have been focusing on only one thing and that is the call for an ecological morality that will demonstrate the beauty of our natural wildlife which is facing an ecological crisis.

Lui Xianping

Liu Xianping is considered China's originator of contemporary nature writing. Born in 1938, he graduated from Zhejing University and worked as a teacher for 10 years. Liu Xianping began to publish his literary work in 1957, but abandoned writing prior to the Cultural Revolution. In the 1970s he joined a scientific team to study animals in the wild and also began going on field observation treks of his own. His footprints have been left on the ridges of towering mountains as well as the Gobi Desert.

Liu Xianping resumed his writing in 1978 and dedicated himself to the creation of contemporary books concerning the natural world. His representative works are four novels about the difficulties and hardships children have experienced and endured in order to protect wild animals, as well as documentaries about his adventures in the natural world. More than 30 species of wildlife are mentioned in his works including giant pandas, golden-monkeys, red-billed leiothrixes, and spotted deer. My Friends in the Wild is a collection of stories based on the author's thrilling encounters with wild animals during his many expeditions in China.

Liu Xianping's work is full of humorous and lively language which makes his books not only informative but also absorbing and exciting. His writing is unique in that it is both poetic and philosophical; he consistently adopts an aesthetic angle to illustrate the beauty and magic of nature. On eight occasions his works have been awarded national prizes. In 1992 the National State Council recognized Liu Xianping as an expert who has made outstanding contributions to society. At the age of 70, Liu Xianping is still involved in observations of the natural world.