China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Teacher savors chance to walk Shakespeare’s favorite streets
It was a rare sunny day when 57-year-old Li Jing’ang arrived at Stratford upon Avon in the United Kingdom. The town is the birthplace of William Shakespeare, regarded as the greatest British writer and dramatist in the 16th century and Li’s favorite literary master.
Along with some 30 tourists from China on April 4, Li was gently holding his breath as he walked through the wooden house where Shakespeare once lived. He was amazed that the house was so well preserved.
For Li, this moment was his “dream come true”. Li, a former English teacher from a county in Shandong province, became a popular figure in the country in 2013 for collecting trash in Beijing and chatting to foreigners in fluent English and eagerly teaching pedestrians oral English.
“I started to read Shakespeare’s work in my late 20s. I was a public servant in a township in Shandong then,” he says. “I read his original works of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet with the Chinese translation on the opposite page. These two aremy favorites. I love his tragic stories more than the comedic stories, because they enlightened my pondering on life.”
He still easily recalls the well-known quotations, like: “To be or not to be, that is the question.”
A series of coincidences led to Li’s visit to Shakespeare’s hometown, his first trip abroad. Back in Oct 17, 2013, Li was working as a dustman in central Beijing and became famous on social media when he chatted freely in English to a foreigner in the Nanluoguxiang area. Li’s simple appearance combined with his fluent spoken English impressed many people who left their compliments online.
What surprised many people is that Li came to Beijing on his own and worked as dustman because he was eager to speak to foreigners in English. For the past two decades, Li has watched English news on TV andread English newspapers to improve his language skills.
Two weeks later, Li was invited to appear on the Chinese Dream Show by Zhejiang TV Station, a very popular charity-themed program that focuses on helping grassroots people to fulfill their dreams. When it was Li’s turn onstage, he told the audience that his dream was to pay a visit to Shakespeare’s hometown.
On March 31, Li took a seven-day trip to theUKtogether with some 30 Chinese tourists. It was also his first time on an airplane.
“It was almost beyond description,” he says. “I was so thrilled, and I was not scared.”
He grabbed every opportunity to talk to foreign people in English. His first foreign conversation during the trip was in Beijing’s Capital Airport right before the trip. He met a British woman and her daughter, who happened to be living in Stratford, Shakespeare’s hometown.
“When I told them I love Shakespeare’s works and was traveling to his hometown, they were so surprised,” Li recalls proudly, rubbing his hands together.
Li says during his time in the UK, he had no problems communicating with local people in London, but felt frustrated when talking to people in Stratford, as well as some other areas outside London.
“They speak with an accent, which sounds different from what I learned,” he says. “They understood what I said, but I did not catch their responses.”
During his one-week stay, Li exchanged only 20 pounds of currency and did not buy anything. But he spent some money to post a letter to the British prime minister, David Cameron, to describe his trip in the UK and to express a special wish.
“I would like to adopt an orphan from the UK. I will treat the orphan, or any baby from UK, asmyowngrandson or granddaughter,” he told the British leader. “I’ll givehima very good education. I am doing this to contribute to the friendship between the Chinese and British people. This ismy next dream.”
Having returned from the UK for a week, Li is now working as a full-time teacher in Beijing at a private education company as an English teacher. He is very satisfied and happy with his present life.