Daniel Reid was born in 1948, in San Francisco, and spent his childhood in East Africa. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, and a Masters of Arts degree in Chinese Language and Civilization at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 1973, Reid moved to Taiwan, where he spent 16 years studying and writing about various aspects of traditional Chinese culture, focusing particulaly on Chinese medicine and ancient Taoist health and longevity systems. In 1989, he relocated to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he continued his research and writing until 1999, when he immigrated with his wife Snow to the Byron Bay region of Australia, where he now makes his home. His published books include The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity, Complete Book of Chinese Health & Healing (Guarding the Three Treasures in British edition), Handbook of Chinese Healing Herbs, Complete Guide to Chi Gung, Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine, and The Tao of Detox: The Natural Way to Purify Your Body for Health & Longevity. He also translated the memoirs of the English writer John Blofeld’s life in China, published in 2007 by Inner Traditions as My Journey in Mystic China. His latest title is The Art & Alchemy of Chinese Tea. More information on Daniel's work is available on his website: www.danreid.org
Among my favorite writers, especially during my younger years as a freelancer in Asia, was John Blofeld, whose books helped inspire my early interest in Buddhism and Taoism and fired my imagination with colorful visions of life in China before the communist revolution swept away traditional culture there.