To start with I’d like to tell you two stories.
The first story is about a Chinese official who visited Vancouver in 2002. During his visit he attended a welcome banquet held by a local association. After he was introduced to the participants he was welcomed to make a speech. In his speech he started by saying that he was so excited to be able to visit the home country of Dr. Norman Bethune. He continued to say that Dr. Norman Bethune has gone thousands of miles to China to save Chinese lives and he wanted too to contribute his best effort to enhance the precious friendship between Canada and China. Instead of an active response from the listeners as what the speaker had expected most people were puzzled by asking who Dr. Norman Bethune was and why he had said all that.

Here’s another story. In August of the year 2004 a girl called Luis was to travel in China. Before she left a Chinese learner called Ming Qi who was studying in Canada wrote in Chinese on the front of her backpack a sentence “I am from the home country of Bethune”. After she came back she told Ming Qi excitedly “These words were more powerful that my passport. No matter where I went, whether on the airport, hotel in the or on the train, when people saw these words they immediately looked at me friendly. The owners of the restaurants even refused to charge me for my meals.” (Quoted from www.rednet.com.cn, written by Hongqing Zhou)

Now you may want to ask me too who this Dr. Norman Bethune is. Why do Chinese people respect him so much? My answer is that Dr. Norman Bethune is a well-known person more than you can imagine. He was a Canadian. He is a Canadian hero in China. He was the only foreigner who has been recognized as a hero in Chinese 5000 years’ of history. People of from all over the country respect him, memorize him and are asked by the government to learn from him and his spirit called The Spirit of Bethune. In one of the Chinese text book of the elementary schools there is an article written by Chairman Mao the first President of People’s republic of China called Memorial of Bethune. This is an article is so important that all the pupils are asked to be able to recite it. In this article Chairman Mao asked all people to learn from the Spirit of Bethune.

If you want me to tell you all stories of him you are asking me to read you a book. To read a book may bore you and is not vivid. So why don’t you consider spending your summer holiday next year with us. We will take you to China to experience the fascinating ancient oriental culture and make yourself a precious guest from Bethune’s home country. By then you will not only know all the stories of him but also make yourself part of our program Follow Dr. Norman Bethune to China.

Check the 2006 Sino-Canada Big Scale Memorial Meeting of Bethune of Thousand People and sign up as soon as possible a precious guest to be invited by Chinese government.