Yun Rou has been called the "Zen Gabriel Garcia-Marquez" for his works of magical realism, many set in China. Born Arthur Rosenfeld in New York City, he received his academic background at Yale University, Cornell University, and the University of California and was officially ordained a Taoist monk in Guangzhou, PRC. His award-winning non-fiction works on Taoism bridge science, spirituality, and philosophy, while his novels have been optioned for film in both Hollywood and Asia. Yun Rou lives in the American Southwest and travels frequently and extensively in the Far East.