第4章 Preface by Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung

I went to Paris to further my study in 1982, an eye opening experience that has changed my life in many ways.

I met Christine in September 1983 when she travelled 500 km from Lyon to Paris for her study. I still remember her standing at the residence door, looking lost with her luggage in tow. We spent our spare time in Chinese restaurants, cooking for our friends, hiking, and exploring Paris. I was a math student, doing my doctorate degree in Statistics. I used to look at numbers and equations and knew nothing about arts. She was an arts student, seeing the world in a different way. The fateful union of a Chinese student and a French student, both new to Paris, began an unusual but exciting venture for the next 30 years. She introduced me to art museums and performances. I introduced her to Chinese cuisine and culture. We had one thing in common, our love for each other.

She first came to Hong Kong in 1985 for a month during her summer holiday, after working every weekend for a year in a butcher shop to pay for her plane ticket. She returned a year later and has been staying in Hong Kong since then. During the last 30 years, she has changed from a gweimui to gweipo, from a person not knowing Cantonese to a fluent Cantonese speaker, and from a French young lady to a Chinese housewife. Though seemingly gradual, these changes carry memorable stories that are both joyful and heart-warming.

We spent a weekend in Shenzhen and ten days in Chengdu and Xi'an after our wedding in 1986. I still remember her plane ticket costed twice as much as mine, simply because she was seen as a foreigner. Nowadays, we pay the same airfare to visit China at least once a year for a charity foundation. She has experienced not only the changes of Hong Kong, but also those of China during the past decades.

I admire her courageous decision to come to Hong Kong at a very young age and her tireless effort to learn the language and culture, eventually making Hong Kong her home. This book is about her experience in Hong Kong and China in the past three decades, one that I hope you can all enjoy.

Stephen Cheung Yan-leung

President, Hong Kong Institute of Education