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Terry Crossman, or Gao Tianrui as he is known in Chinese, is an American who has lived in Beijing for 22 years. Working eight hours a week, he volunteers as a "Grandpa in Xicheng District," using his knowledge of Cantonese, Mandarin and English to give directions to tourists.
(Screenshot from the video)
Terry lives in a bungalow in one of the hutongs around Shichahai Lake. Some of the hutongs are more than 400 years old.
His mother had a stereotyped image that a hutong was like the slums. "She had no idea that renting hutongs is very expensive", said Crossman.
Having studied Chinese history, philosophy, literature, anthropology and sociology, Crossman proudly said he is not a "foreigner who knows nothing about China".
(Compiled by Han Xiaomeng)
