Helen Wallimann grew up in England. After graduating in French and German from Edinburgh University she worked in publishing in Munich, Paris and London for several years before becoming a French and English teacher at the Kantonsschule Solothurn, Switzerland. She taught English for two years in China: at Jilin University from 1989 to 1990 and at Xuzhou Teachers' University from 2002 to 2003. In 2008 and 2011 she conducted courses in English language teaching methods for secondary school teachers in Jiuquan, Gansu Province. Since 2004 she has been an active participant at classes on Modern Chinese Literature at Zurich University.  Her other translation works included Legends from the Swiss Alps edited by Andrea Riemenschnitter and Leung Ping-kwan (MCCM Creations, 2009) and several articles in A New Thoughtfulness in Contemporary China edited by Jörg Huber and Zhao Chuan (Bielefeld, 2011).