Local author publishes book.

Stamford, Connecticut, USA and Nanjing, Jiangsu, China — An unusual international friendship that began as a simple language exchange has resulted in a unique cross-cultural collaboration and a new book aimed at deepening Western understanding of China.

Gary Bischoff, a retired engineer, educator and business man based in Stamford, Connecticut, and Wang Wei, an English major living in Nanjing, first met in 2017 through a website designed to connect people around the world with shared interests. Gary was searching for a partner to help him learn Chinese; Wei was looking for someone with whom she could practice English.

What began as weekly online conversations soon grew into something more. Their shared curiosity about language, culture, and education led them to collaborate on teaching a series of online courses about China for adult learners in the United States. Using Zoom, they co-taught classes on Chinese history, culture, and China–U.S. geopolitics—blending perspectives from inside and outside China in real time.

During this collaboration, they realized their course materials held the foundation for something larger.

“We should turn our class notes and presentations into a book,” Gary suggested.

That idea became China: Insight into History, Culture and People, a book designed to answer the many questions Western readers have about China, its people, and the historical experiences that shape modern Chinese society.

Neither author had prior publishing experience. What they did have was persistence. The project evolved chapter by chapter, with drafts passing back and forth across continents. Although they were told the publishing process would take six to eight months, it ultimately took over a year before the book reached major retailers.

For both authors, the experience reflected a Chinese idiom Wei often quotes: 教学相长 (pronounced jiào xué xiāng zhǎng) — teaching benefits both the student and the teacher.

“We discovered how true that is,” Wei said. “Through teaching and writing together, we both learned.”

The authors believe that China is often viewed in the West as distant, mysterious, and defined primarily through political narratives. Their book aims to look beyond headlines and offer readers a more personal, historical, and cultural understanding of China and its people.

By combining lived experience from Nanjing with an American educator’s perspective, China: Insight into History, Culture and People offers readers a rare, balanced view that bridges cultures rather than divides them.

About the Authors

Gary Bischoff is a retired electronics engineer, business man, educator and lecturer affiliated with Lifetime Learners Institute in Norwalk, Connecticut. He has developed and taught courses on China and international topics for several educational institutions. He is a student of Chinese language and culture and has traveled extensively in China.

Wang Wei lives in Nanjing, China, where she works as an auditor for one of China’s most renowned certification companies. She travels throughout China and applies her background as an English major to cross-cultural communication and education. As a native Chinese with extensive reading and travel experience, Ms. Wang possesses a thorough understanding of her country. Her bilingual ability allows her to effectively bridge cultural gaps, making her uniquely qualified to introduce and explain cultural differences to readers.

Book Information

Title: China: Insight into History, Culture and People
Authors: Gary Bischoff and Wang Wei

Website: chinainsightbook.com

Availability: Major book retailers