Zao yang fan shu (Foreign Cookery in Chinese; 1866) was the first Chinese-language Western cookbook published in Shanghai.

At the age of 15, she had a believer's baptism, having been the child of a deeply religious family of Baptist faith.

About this time, one Tarlton P. Crawford went to Richmond, Virginia, to be examined and secure appointment by missionary board to serve in foreign fields.

The next day, the secretary received a letter asking the board to appoint Miss Foster to Chinese missionary work.

[5] Dr. Crawford spent nearly twelve years in Shanghai from the time of arrival, but their health became much impaired there, and so they moved to Tengzhou, Shandong, among the early settlers there.

After spending thirty years there, and becoming convinced that Baptists could work more efficiently by putting more direct responsibility upon, the local churches instead of making them merely contributors to a Central Board, he with several others moved to the west of the province, in 1894, to Tai'an, where he was laboring when the Boxer troubles arose.

Zao yang fan shu (Foreign Cookery in Chinese; 1866) was the first Chinese-language Western cookbook published in Shanghai.