Post by Evan Y Hacker 何艾文

For my first birthday while living in China, I went to Beijing and visited the Great Wall. It was June 7, 2015. A friend and I spent the day walking the Wall and practicing our Chinese with other visitors. During one conversation, I mentioned that it was my birthday. A few people wished me a happy birthday. Then more people joined in. Before long, complete strangers were wishing me happy birthday from all directions. A group of girls even asked if they could sing Happy Birthday to me. Of course I said yes. One of the people I met that day was a little girl who wished me a happy birthday while visiting the Wall with her family. Hours later, after we had all left, my friend and I boarded a train back to the city. By pure coincidence, we ended up in the exact same train car as her family. When they recognized me, the little girl and her sister walked over and handed me a necklace they had made from a shoelace. I still have it. Eleven years later, that’s what I remember most about that birthday. Not the Great Wall. The kindness of complete strangers. (Photos from the Great Wall, June 7, 2015.)