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Audrey Topping lived for eight years in the Far East, where she studied at the University of Nanking, China. She specializes in Asian cultures and religions and has made six journalistic forays to all parts of China in the past decade. Her articles and photos have appeared frequently in leading publications, including the National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, Life, Horizon and Vogue. She is the author of Dawn Wakes in the East.

Mrs. Topping is a director of the Foreign Policy Association and serves on the China Council of the Asia Society. The Toppings have five daughters and live in Scarsdale, New York.

“If any place deserves to be haunted it is the Potala. For amid the splendor of its myriad golden Buddhas set in a labyrinth of sacred ceremonial chambers, there have occurred more rich pageantry and arcane prophecies, more secret ceremonies and magical rituals, more sinister intrigue and mysterious happenings than the imagination can encompass.”

— Excerpt from The Splendors of Tibet

“Asia has many surprises and Tibet is one of them. Audrey Topping has given us a wonderful introduction to the blend of mystery, splendor and sadness that is Tibet. The text benefits from the excitement of ‘being there’ which the Toppings are so good at sharing with readers. And these experienced authors did not let their engaging enthusiasm prevent them from alluding to the darker side of Tibet’s life within the Chinese fold. No one else has matched this portrait of Tibet today.”

— Ross Terrill, Author of Mao: A Biography