Born in the central part of City Beijing and lived there until 2005 when, along with my daughter, I moved to Nova Scotia. Its attributes and the natural beauty of the land grabbed my heart at once. Some of my first thoughts were, I must write about this to describe the magic allure of my new home.
Writing had been a hobby alongside of my over thirty-year science journey, but a career change of being laid off from a downsizing company in early 2016, catalyzed the hobby into an enjoyable professional. Now, I am a writer, author and retired entomologist working for my own interests.
How did I grow up? Toddling around and carrying a tiny watering can, I followed on the heels of grandpa in his garden. Flowers, trees and insects were my first natural friends. A big bag of colorful picture books, fairy tales, fables and short stories from China or abroad fulfilled my childhood.
In late 1960s, at thirteen, I learned more of the basic things for living when mom took me and my younger sister to a remote countryside near the Yellow River. It was a hard time for mom, but benefited me. The rich culture and history along the River also rooted my life.
No doubt, early family education determined my love of nature and studying entomology in university. It also cultivated my abiding passion for reading and writing.
What was about my over thirty-year long journey in science? With all I learned about insects from Peking University, I first worked on medical entomology (the study about disease carrying insects, called vectors). Further along, integrated pest management (IPM), vector-borne disease control, its epidemiology and health quarantine stepped into my career. Thirteen years later, I shifted my interest to instrumental analytical chemistry focusing on the determination of trace insecticide residues in food. That’s where my considerable multi-science expertise, especially in entomology, started.
Many years later, a Master Thesis study in Canada brought me back to insects. It was about using insecticide-risk-reduced attempts to control black vine weevil under an economic threshold. Black vine weevil larva (babies) feed on crop roots and cause serious damage to many plants, such as strawberry, blueberry . . . In less than two years, I defended my work and obtained a Master Degree from Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia.
However, holding my master degree, a science job starting out in Canada would be no higher than a Research Assistant. Thus I assisted such medical researches as drag delivery by nasal experiment using rats and inherited Nemann-Pick type II disorder study using mice. Later, a job on blood coagulation-based diagnostic studies extended the assisting history to seven more years before finally I worked on my own long held interests, Insects and Writing.
Since 2019, I have been involved in a program called “Writers in the Schools, WITS” supported by Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS). Being an entomologist, I am capable and feel obligated to provide students accurate information about insects as I have noticed there are errors, inaccurate expressions or common confusion in some published non-fiction children’s books on insects. I feel responsible to address the facts about insects as vital or essential for life cycles, the most diverse of all animals. Now insects are facing a dramatic population decline caused by human activities. These facts are often unaware of, unknown, ignored, undervalued or misunderstood.
With a solid science background, diverse interests and an open mind, my writing encompasses on essays for all ages and creative non-fiction books directed towards children, but which no doubt, are interesting to adults. Many of my essays have been published in newspapers, magazines or radio broadcast in China since 1990’s, since 2006 in Canada, as well.
My first creative non-fiction children’s book, “Running Wild with Bossy Boy” was published in Canada, May 2018. It introduces readers to the daily lives of a flock of chickens my friend Bob and I raised, highlight their remarkable characteristics and distinct personalities, or to them chicken-alities. Their individual stories are visualized and connected by over seventy vivid photos from the hundreds I took. Now I am working on my second non-fiction book for children.
Interested in languages, I am also a skilled translator and interpreter (English/Mandarin Chinese) for local service providers, the Canada Justice System and various companies.
Gardening, a heritage from Grandpa, remains my favorite pastime.
MEMBERSHIP
Writers’ Council member, Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS)https://www.writers.ns.ca/members/profile/318
Member, Association of Translators and Interpreters of Nova Scotia (ATINS)https://www.atins.org/Sys/PublicProfile/37138440/4103406
Member, Toastmasters International
All information above is updated on Feb. 5, 2020
Essay Samples
The Halifax Explosion: History Brought to Life
In fall 2007, my daughter and I moved into an apartment building in the north end of Halifax. Our deck faces the Shipyard and overlooks HalifaxHarbor. Watching the gentle waves, the sea gulls, the vessels and the sun hanging above the water is becoming one of my favorite pastimes. I am originally from Beijing and seldom had the opportunity to be such close to a harbor.
One sunny morning, I stood on the deck, sipping a cup of coffee while enjoying the view of the 
Harbor. My eyes once again touched the area to the north of the Shipyard and my heart skipped a beat. Was it the devastated area around “Pier 6” where the Halifax Explosion happened on December 6, 1917? Had the Richmond Railyards been located there? I hurriedly began digging through my unpacked boxes and pulled out a book called “Explosion in HalifaxHarbor,” which I bought two years ago. A map in the book confirmed my feelings that I was looking at the exact site.
As a Chinese, I had never even heard of the Halifax Explosion before moved to Nova Scotia. However, a very fortuitous series of events brought me to the history.
When my daughter and I immigrated to Canada, we first stayed in Wolfville, a landscape-like small
town belonging to the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. We lived in a house with Ms. Janette Snooks, a nurse and community caregiver. The house had its bedrooms upstairs with living-room and kitchen on the ground floor. One day I noticed that a framed newspaper article with a gentleman’s picture in it hung on the wall in the turning corner of the stairs. In the living-room, two pictures particularly caught my eye, too. One was the same gentleman in the framed article. Another was of a woman. Out of curiosity, I stood at the stair corner and read the article.
It described the most significant explosion in widespread devastation, killed about 2000 people and 9000 injured in the blast in HalifaxHarbor on December 6, 1917. The gentleman in the photograph was Vincent Coleman who worked at the Richmond Railyards. It was only a few hundred feet from Pier 6, where a vessel called Mont Blancloaded over 2,900 tons of explosives and flammable material drifted ashore in flames after colliding with another vessel, the Imo. Warned of Mont Blanc’s explosive cargo, Vincent turned to his telegraph key to stop incoming trains. His message was sent out just in time and a train was successfully stopped outside of Halifax before the Explosion.
Thanks to Vincent’s message, the Canadian railway system responded quickly to the disaster and sent relief trains with medical help to the ravaged city. Vincent Coleman’s body and belongings were later recovered and he was named a hero for his quick thinking.
I could not help but to ask Janette who Vincent was. She told me he was her late maternal grandfather. The woman in the living-room picture was his wife, Frances. In 1917 Janette’s mother was just a baby. She and Frances were two of the survivors. Because of Janette the history of the Halifax Explosion suddenly seemed very real to me and was brought to my life accidentally! After listening to her story, I felt differently whenever passed the picture frame in the turning corner.
Janette also showed me a book, “The Halifax Explosion”. The author interviewed her for the book. Opening the book, I saw the same photos of Vincent and Frances in the living-room. I glanced at the book’s dedication, “For my husband, Doug” without paying much attention to this at the time.
I wished I had the book, so looked for it in Wolfville, but did not find it. By chance I bought another informative book, “Explosion in HalifaxHarbour” by David B. Flemming though it was expensive for me.
A short time later, I was told my Masters supervisor, Doug’s wife, Joyce had written a book about the Explosion. Having checked, I ensured the one Janette had loaned me was, in fact, by Joyce Glasner. The dedication, “For my husband, Doug” I had not paid much attention last time really made sense to me this time. Finally I met Joyce and she sent me a copy of her book. Opening the cover, I found I owned a signed copy.
Amazingly, the experience with Janette and Joyce brought me closer to the history and made me more familiar with the Halifax Explosion than what I, a person from China, had ever expected. I could not help, once again, but felt more about the history especially after I moved to the north end of Halifax and found most of the historical sites could visit by walking.
I once stopped over at MaritimeMuseum of the Atlantic an entire afternoon one day to visit the exhibition of Halifax Explosion, to watch the video with the horrible pictures of the ruins and to listen to the pitiful description.
From the corner of Barrington Street and Duke Street, I looked up to the north face of the City Hall Clock. It was permanently stopped to 9:05 a.m., the time that the original clock stopped as a result of the Explosion.
I quietly opened the front door of St. Paul’s Anglican Church and found the piece of metal from Mont Blanc remains flown through the glass window and then embedded above the door in the inside wall of the porch.
I have walked several times around the neighborhood where I live to visit the historical sites-the churches, schools, buildings and streets……
I reviewed the name list of those who lost their lives in the Halifax Explosion, I found two of them were from China.
I attended the 90th annual memorial service at Fort NeedhamMemorial Park on December 6, 2007. On that day, I met two of the survivors who are at their late 90s, while I also saw a lot of teenagers and youngsters standing with the grey or white hair in the cold and chilly December wind in memory of the event. As only Chinese, my attendance caused people’s curiosity and attention. Some gaze made me feel I was an alien. Probably they were reasonable –it was really 
weird–a Chinese woman joining such local event with mostly local Canadians. However, I have stories related to the Explosion, which they did not know, which I like to share with them. My understanding of Halifax is more than they expected that a Chinese woman should have, and my feelings to Halifax are far beyond the whirl and the noises, the peace and the beauty which they feel and I feel everyday.
End
