(According to this Epoch Times article, Erping Zhang’s father was a professor who travelled between China and America often to teach.
Zhang went to America in 1984 as an international student.
Later, in 1991, he got a book on Qigong mailed from his parents.
In 1992, he went back to China to visit his family members, and saw many people practicing Qigong.
In 1994, he made the second visit back to China, and a friend of his father's[also a professor] taught him Falun Gong.
In the 1990s, many colleagues of Zhang’s father learned types of Qigong eagerly.)