Leaving his parents and his country at the age of only 11, Feng Ru began a whole new life in America. For most children, being in a foreign land without family and friends would be a frightening experience. But little Feng Ru was a boy of exceptional courage and intelligence, and no challenge seemed insurmountable to him. He quickly learned the essential knowledge in mechanics and grew into a brilliant engineer. When the Wright Brothers invented the world’s first airplane in 1903, Feng Ru soon realized how important this flying machine could be for protecting a country, like his own, from wars. Six years later, the first plane made by the “Wright of the East” Feng Ru was born!

This book tells the fascinating story of Feng Ru, the first Chinese man to build airplanes, who never lost sight of his dream: to fly, and to make his country fly!

Ye Qiang studied oil painting in Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. After graduating in 2001, he’s been teaching as an Associate Professor in the Department of New Media Art and Design in Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Ye’s paintings have been displayed in hundreds of national and international exhibitions, and he has held solo exhibitions in galleries, including the Shanghai Art Museum, six times. Ye’s paintings and scholarship can be found in more than 20 academic journals and monographs. He has also published seven textbooks. Dong Pingping is Vice-Secretary of the Party Committee and member of the Supervisory Commission of the Department of New Media Art and Design in Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.