Guoqi Xu was born in China to a peasant family in Anhui province during Mao's fatal 1960s and received Ph. D in history from Harvard University. He has taught in both China and USA and is currently (tenured) full professor of History at the University of Hong Kong. As a leading scholar of modern China and international history, his research has always focused on significant but ignored issues about China's internationalization and search for a new national identity and place in the world system. His most recent book "Strangers on the Western Front" explains how 140,000 Chinese laborers who went to Europe during the First World War played an important role in China's national development and remaking of Western civilization. His book "Olympic Dreams" examines how the Chinese have used sports for diplomacy, political legitimacy, and internationalization. This book received an academic excellence award from Chinese Historians in the United States, Inc. and was chosen as the best book of 2008 by the International Society of Olympic Historians. Guoqi Xu's book "China and the Great War" was the first book to address the crucial questions about China's role in the Great War and the role of the Great War in making modern China. This book was translated into Chinese and was published by Shanghai Sanlian Shudian in its prestigious classic series in 2008.