Tang Lin was born in a small village called Yung Shu Au, Hong Kong and came to England in 1972. She trained as a painter in Sunderland and in Syracuse, New York.  The T’ang dynasty poems were a significant literary influence on her. Through her work, she tries to combine the tranquility of Buddhism with the turbulence of everyday living. She speaks Cantonese, Hakka, Mandarin and English.