Brian L. Evans, CM, studied Chinese and Chinese history at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. Later, serving as a cultural counsellor at the Canadian embassy in Beijing, he was involved with Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s historic visit to China in 1973. He was Professor of Chinese History at the University of Alberta (1961–1996) in Edmonton. In his retirement, Brian Evans has devoted himself to recording and preserving the stories of Alberta’s Chinese pioneer immigrants.