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Let’s celebrate International Women’s Day with local female author Crystal Tai and listen to her telling spellbinding stories of Suzhou, a canal-woven city famous for exquisite gardens and delightful desserts, located near Shanghai. Since seeking her family roots in Suzhou, Crystal has done thorough research on the scenic city’s classical gardens. Her full-color book with an environmental theme, Insights into Suzhou Gardens, can help the reader truly understand the cultural meanings behind the design elements of world-renowned Suzhou-style gardens. Please join us for a colorful presentation with stunning slides, followed by book signing and a tasting of Suzhou-style sweets.

Crystal Tai holds a Master’s degree in Education Policy with coursework in Journalism from Stanford University. She has worked as a local news reporter, a communications specialist in the high-tech sector and a medical interpreter. She is also a Youtuber who frequently posts videos on her channel, Crystal Blue Sky. With exceptional bilingual skills, she has won two translation awards and written a historical novel, Marco Polo in Love, as well as a few nonfiction books that introduce traditional Chinese culture to English speakers. One of her nonfiction books is Insights into Suzhou Gardens, which provides in-depth but easy-to-understand cultural knowledge about what makes Suzhou’s classical gardens harmonize humanity and nature. One of her other full-color nonfiction books, Seasonal Living with Splendid Poetry, is in the collections of the San Francisco Public Library. Another nonfiction book she wrote, A Poetic Portal to Chinese Culture, has brought her a certificate of commendation from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for contribution to cultural diversity. Crystal has also published Timeless Passion, which comprises her rhymed English translations of love poems from China’s oldest anthology of poetry, namely The Book of Songs (詩經).