MOVING MOMENTS
Recounting these accomplishments on television, Zhang wept.
China is still an alien country in distant corners of the increasingly interconnected world. Zhang remembers one foreigner asking him, "Why don't Chinese men wear pigtails anymore?"
The couple can speak little English, so they always managed to communicate with gestures. "Doing is better than saying," said Zhang, who built friendships through trust.
In 2012, the couple accompanied two photographers to the Marum volcano on an island in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu. They hired indigenous people as guides, but later learned that the people distrusted outsiders, as their ancestors had been colonized by Westerners.
Zhang won their trust by cooking Chinese food. Every day, he would invite the guides to eat first. He never complained when they left little for them. The couple responded with smiles and respected local customs.
When they were about to leave, the chief held Zhang's hand and said, "The best people in the world are those who speak Chinese."
The most moving memories, Liang Hong says, were those of the many overseas Chinese who gave them food, expecting they would be missing the food from home.
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