D. de Martel was a career diplomat who served as Chargé d'Affaires in the 1910s, as Foreign Minister in the 1920s, and as High Commissioner of French Syria in the 1930s. L. de Hoyer was Russian head of the Russo-Asiatic Bank's Peking branch. He is the author of Meditations on Buddha and Plato. Sapajou was the best loved cartoonist of old Shanghai. He was a regular political cartoonist for the North-China Daily News and the North China Herald, and was featured as an illustrator in several popular books. D. de Warzee is a translator. Adam Williams is the author of The Book of the Alchemist, The Dragon's Tail, The Emperor's Bones, and The Palace of Heavenly Treasures. He is the recipient of the Order of the British Empire for services to Sino-British trade.