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BEIJING, Sept. 24-- About 800,000 foreigners living in China have shared both the hardships and benefits of the country's development, and a look at China through their eyes provides insights into how the nation has been transformed and what it can offer the world. AN AMERICAN IN XIAMEN After living in China for 29 years, William Brown, an MBA professor at Xiamen University, is often considered something of a China expert. Back in 1988, William sold his company and moved to Xiamen, a coastal garden city in east China's Fujian Province, with his wife and two sons. "I chose Xiamen University because it was the only university that allowed foreigners to take their families with them to learn Chinese at that time," said the former U.S. military man, once stationed in Taiwan. The Brown family flew from California to Hong Kong, where they took a miserable 18-hour boat ride to reach the coastal city. Back then, there were only three bus routes in the whole city. "The floor of the buses were made of wood, and the bus exhaust fumes could come into the bus," he said. Brown said he has witnessed China changing from being "really backward" to moderately prosperous over 30 years. In addition to teaching, he has been committed to developing English websites and has published more than 10 English books about Xiamen. Brown said he was excited when he once walked into a bookstore and found that several young students were reading his books with a dictionary in their hands. | 
