Feature: A book threading together China, U.S.

CHICAGO, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Years after returning from China, where Hugh Shepard and his parents lived for four years, Shepard still remembers his life in Beijing vividly.

In his first Chinese language test at Yew Chung International School in Beijing, "I received a score of 30 percent." From then on, "I studied Chinese every day, and got a score of 87 percent on the next test."