About Alan

Alan Paul is the author of Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing (Harper), which USA Today hailed as “big–hearted memoir with emotional depth.”

Big in China tells Paul’s moving tale about the personal reinvention he experienced after moving from New Jersey to Beijing when his wife was named the Wall Street Journal’s China Bureau Chief. It is about raising three American children in Beijing and Paul’s unlikely journey to becoming a Chinese music star, fronting the blues band, Woodie Alan, Beijing’s 2008 Band of the Year.

Paul wrote “The Expat Life” column for WSJ.com from 2005-2009, for which The National Society of Newspaper Columnists named him 2008 Columnist of the Year. He also reported from Beijing for NBC, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets, covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics for NBC.com, while also appearing on air for NBC and CCTV.

Paul is a longtime senior writer for Slam and Guitar World magazines. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, People, ESPN.com, Rolling Stone.com, SI.com and many other publications and websites. He has contributed to The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Guide, The Insider’s Guide to Beijing, and several other books.

Woodie Alan, featuring three Chinese musicians and one other American, performed throughout China after being named 2008’s Best Band in Beijing. Their debut CD, Beijing Blues (Guitar China Records), has earned praised from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, the Allman Brothers’ Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, guitarist Joe Bonamassa, blues harp master Charlie Musselwhite and other musical greats.

Alan Paul is also known as the Panda Dad, since his WSJ essay “Tiger Mom Meet Panda Dad” caused a stir that led to him being interviewed on the Today show by Matt Laurer.

Alan, his wife Rebecca, and their three children reside in Maplewood, NJ.