“My Dongxiang language has improved a lot， but I haven’t found aDongxiang girl，” David said， a little embarrassed. “They don’t warmto me. There are mainly two reasons for that — one is because of whoI am， the other is because of their ethnic group，” David explainedseriously. “I’m a poor guy with no money and no power， I’m only anemployed worker. If I worked in the big city as a foreign expert witha high salary， high status， cars and a house， they might consider me. Ifyou were a parent， you wouldn’t marry your daughter to someone likeme. Besides， you know， this is a minority region. Most of the peoplebelieve in Islam， while I’m a Christian. There is a difference of raceand religion which of course makes it hard to resolve my personalmatters. “But I heard you got married，” I asked.
“Yes， I got married in the summer of 2005. My wife is called HanShidie. She’s also an American. That is her Chinese name. Her Englishname is Stacy Deems.
Oh， I see. No wonder the words “Ding & Han” came at the endof his mobile phone message. “How did you meet？ Was she willing tocome here and be with you？” I continued to ask.
“We were introduced by a friend who studied Chinese as a for eign student at Qinghai Nationalities Institute， and my wife workedthere too at the time. Actually， she’s had many experiences similar tomine. She came to China to study Chinese for a year for the first timein 1992. After returning home， she found that she loved China， andcame here again in 1993 to teach English in Tianjin University. Shewent to Xinjiang and then went to teach in Qinghai Nationalities Institutein 2003. Later in 2005 we got married and she came here. Youcould say we are quite similar， with the same goals in life. David spoke in a plain and simple tone. But I know that for a foreignerto settle down here， in this remote region with its rough environment，is not easy. After marriage， he moved out from the office andrented a three-room apartment in the county seat. He no longer needsto light the coal stove， instead he uses an electric heater. He’s got akitchen， water and electricity， but it’s not reliable. Sometimes the waterand electricity are cut off. But for David， all is very satisfactory. Hetold me that in 2005 his salary was raised from 500 to 700 per month.
“700 yuan？ Is it enough for rent and living？ “Yes， more than enough，” David said， smiling. “This house is only100 yuan per month， and you don’t know that in Dongxiang the average312 income of a householdis only a little more than1，100 yuan a year. We’
re much better off thanthey are. I don’t teach inschools in the countrynow， but live in the countyseat. The living conditionsare very good， notlike what you imagined. I think he must feelvery happy with his lifenow. His wife is his bestassistant. She is now afull-time housewife and helps him to work for free every day. Before，he was responsible for communicating with school teachers， especiallywomen teachers， and now they are taken care of by his wife. Forexample， in Machang School， there are 11 teachers， 10 of whom arewomen. “Because of religious reasons， men and women are separated，so I had a big problem before in communicating with them and takingthem out to other schools for training. Now she is here， and I’m freed，and she is extremely good at dealing with them.” Seeing David’s delightshining in his face， I was deeply inspired. I felt very happy thathe had found such a good companion， a true mate.
“What’s your plan for the future？ Will you stay here or…？
“I won’t stay here for ever. Of course it depends on whether theywill continue to employ me. However， in two or three years， 80 newschools funded by outside donors will be completed， and the goal of aschool in every village will be realized. In addition， eight experimentalschools practicing “Bilingual Teaching （Dongxiang and Mandarin） now in Dongxiang will also be completed， and will be spread throughoutthe whole county by 2009. By that time， Dongxiang will no longerhave the highest illiteracy-rate and the poorest level of basic educationin the nation， and my work will be finished. I’ll consider going to workin another backward place in China. I’ll stay here for five or six yearsat most. “What about your parents？ They are getting older and older. Whowill take care of them？ “Yeah， they are about 70. Luckily my younger brother and eldestbrother will take care of them. Looking again at this American with his blue eyes and light hairin front of me， my heart is filled with respect and deeply touched.
His thoughts are younger than his age， and his heart is strongerthan his body.
At the moment， a voice is ringing in my ears：“A man’s ability may be great or small， but if he has this spirit， heis already noble-minded and pure， a man of moral integrity and abovevulgar interests， a man who is of value to the people.” （From SelectedWorks of Mao Tse-tung）
Notes：
1. Lei Feng， （December 18， 1940 - August 15， 1962） was a soldierof the People’s Liberation Army of the PRC. After his death hewas characterized as a selfless and modest person who was devoted toChairman Mao. In the posthumous “Learn from comrade Lei Feng”
（ 向雷锋同志学习） campaign， started by Mao in 1963， the youth ofthe country was indoctrinated to follow his example.
2. Norman Bethune， （1890-1939） born in Gravenhurst， Ontario， adistinguished Canadian surgeon and a member of the Canadian com31munist Party. In the spring of 1938， in order to help the Chinese peoplein their War of Resistance Against Japan， he came to China at thehead of a medical team and arrived in Yan’an. Soon after he went tothe Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area， where he formed the first mobilemedical unit， which could be carried on two mules. Imbued withardent internationalism and the great communist spirit， he served thearmy and the people of the Liberated Areas for nearly two years. Hecontracted blood poisoning while operating on wounded soldiers anddied in Tangxian County， Hebei， on November 12， 1939. On the sameday Mao Tse-tung wrote an article “In Memory of Norman Bethune and called on every communist and Chinese person to learn from him.
Written and Translated by Li Shujuan