William Brown, a business professor from Xiamen University is an American, but has been engaged in telling wonderful stories about China to the world. For him, the progress made by China can be called a miracle.

 William Brown (People's Daily/Wang Hailin)

Brown came to China in the 1970s to learn Chinese out of curiosity. In 1988, he became a foreign teacher in Xiamen University, and in 1993 he received a Friendship Award from the Chinese government.

During his time at Xiamen University, Brown established a close relationship with the students and made many contributions to the business administration project of Xiamen University.

Brown bought a tricycle and, in his spare time, took his whole family around Xiamen. He often communicated with locals to learn about the city’s culture and stories. He noticed that in the late 1980s, Xiamen's economy and urban construction began to develop rapidly, while paying attention to the protection of natural ecology.

In 1994, he went on a 40,000-kilometer journey covering more than half of China with his wife and children, which lasted for three months. In 2019, he set out again, traveling tens of thousands of kilometers for 31 days to explore the great developments and changes that had taken place in various parts of China.

These two trips left him amazed about China's achievements in the past 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and how these magical changes have benefited every Chinese person. For Brown, Chinese people's living standards have improved significantly, and their happiness is increasing with each passing day.

He believes that there are many successful experiences that can be used as reference by other countries. The progress made by China can be called a miracle, especially in the more than 40 years of reform and opening up.

A number of projects carried out by China in various fields have attracted worldwide attention, such as the Three Gorges Project and the South–North Water Transfer Project.

Brown is increasingly impressed by China's determination and efforts to get rid of poverty. Today, infrastructure such as electricity and transportation in remote areas and rural areas of China has been greatly improved.

Xiamen obtained the title of International Garden City in 2002. At that time, as a representative, he told the story of the harmonious cohabitation between Xiamen people and nature. Brown believed that China attaches great importance to green development and has strong executive power.

During his more than 30 years of living in China, Brown has persisted in studying Chinese history, listening to Chinese stories, and spreading them to the world. Since 2000, he has been writing books to introduce China overseas in order to help more Chinese and foreign readers understand Xiamen and Fujian.

In December 2018, Off the Wall - How We Fell for China written by Brown was published. The book is a collection of 47 letters he had written to his family since 1988. In the book, he used interesting stories and humorous expressions to show the pleasing changes that have taken place in China’s economic and social landscape.

"I am full of love for Xiamen and China. China has already become my second home. I will always be a storyteller of China and continue to share more wonderful Chinese stories with the world," said Brown.