At the age of 24, he came to Taiwan penniless; he went back to Sri Lanka at 27; a year later, he became the boss of two companies; at the age of 43, he resigned the CEO positions in both companies and became a Chinese tour guide in Sri Lanka. He went to Shanghai to study Chinese 20 hours a day when he was 45. This is our tour guide in Sri Lanka — Lao Yang.

Lao Yang's full name is Yang Longming, adopted during his time in Taiwan. His real name is Janaka Dias. Lao Yang is a very nice guide – whatever requests his tourists have, he always smiles and nods "OK, no problem! I will arrange that. You have a wonderful time." And every time he succeeds in fulfilling all the tourists' needs. People from China all call him Lao Yang — an amiable nickname. But what makes him special among the rest of the guides in Sri Lanka is not just his fluent Chinese. When I talk to him, it feels like it is destiny that he has so many stories connected with China.

Lao Yang was born into a very wealthy family in 1964. His father was a affluent businessman and his mother ran a garment factory. There were 5 boys and 5 girls in his family, and he was the youngest. After a miserable break-up at the age of 24, he decided to escape from the woeful memory and flew to Taiwan without any support from his parents. In order to make a living, he took a temporary job in a toy factory for NT 350 dollars per day. In addition to the hard work during the day, Lao Yang applied himself to Chinese classes at night.

"Chinese people are all very kind, nice, and have offered me a lot of help during my hard times," says Lao. Before long, he and his supervisor became best friends and he even lived in his home. What's more, Lao Yang fell in love again with a Taiwanese girl. "It was love at first sight, but her parents strongly opposed our relationship because I was a foreigner, and they wanted her to find someone local. So we ended up separating at last even though we really liked each other." Lao Yang slows down."She is still single today."

In 1991, Lao Yang got a phone call from his mother. His father had passed away. Immediately he packed his bags and went back to Sri Lanka. In the following years, he opened an advertising company with his friends, and later another printing company. Though he was already the CEO of two big companies, he still kept a Chinese dream in his mind.

In 2007, Lao Yang's older sister, who lives in Germany, suggested he become a tour guide. "I really love my sister; she suggested I should be a guide, so I went ahead." In the beginning, there were not so many Chinese tourists. But now, more and more Chinese people are traveling to Sri Lanka. "Most of the Chinese tourists are all very friendly. I really enjoy being their guide," Lao Yang says."When I was the boss, I had a lot of pressure, but now as a tour guide, I am very happy every day, especially with Chinese tourists. I hope I can provide my guests with the best service, and make them happy too."

While we talk about the future, Lao Yang says he has decided to open a Chinese restaurant with some other tour guides. He wants to retire in five years, buy some land in the center of Sri Lanka, build a garden villa, and enjoy the time with the family and grow old.

"I don't want Chinese tourists to remember my name or the travel agency's name," he says. "I want them to remember Sri Lanka. This is a charming country immersed in the spirit of Buddhism, with beautiful beaches, ancient cities, tropical plants and animals." 

This article is edited and tranlstaed from 《斯里兰卡“老杨”的不解中国缘》，source: People's Daily Online, autohor: Yao Chun