CHI Co-Founder Tom Areton shares his memories of CHI partner and friend Daniel Zhang, who recently passed away.
When Lilka and I one day write the Story of CHI, the chapter on China will be inextricably tied to one man – Daniel Zhang from Chongqing. As President Nixon opened China to the U.S., Mr. Zhang opened China to CHI. As a founder of SISEP (Stilwell International Student Exchange Program), he sent us thousands of students on a variety of programs. We traveled with him in China and he visited us many times here in the U.S. We laughed together at political jokes in our living room. Daniel was one of the few people I know who could observe the self-serving, manipulative nature of politics through the lens of humor. Perhaps this was the reason he was a consummate optimist. Daniel continued to maintain his good cheer over the past few years, even though his health declined alarmingly. Two weeks ago we received the sad news from Daniel’s sister Sandy that Daniel died after a lengthy battle with cancer. It was not unexpected and yet we were surprised and deeply saddened by the loss of this true CHI friend.
Just who was this brilliant, bright, caring man? Daniel was born 65 years ago in Shanghai, just as Mao Tse-tung’s Red Army started winning over Chiang Kai-shek. After high school he enrolled in the Shanghai Foreign Language Institute, – no wonder his English was excellent! During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960’s Daniel was a Red Guard at his University – and so was everyone else.
After graduating from the Institute in 1968, Daniel “answered” Mao’s instruction that the intellectual youth (read: all college students) should go to the countryside to be re-educated by the lower classes. He was assigned to work on a farm near Nanjing, digging irrigation ditches for 2 years. (This would re-educate any of us…)
By 1970 the Cultural Revolution waned and Daniel was sent to Chongqing to work as a high school English teacher. Four years later he became the chief interpreter for the China-France joint enterprise project and in 1979 he was appointed to the Chongqing City Hall – Foreign Language Affairs Office where he quickly rose to the position of the Director. He told me a story how he once led a delegation from Chongqing to Moscow and someone stole his group’s spending cash from his suitcase in the hotel. Fortunately, Daniel always carried a $100 bill in his shoe and that was enough – changed on the black market in Moscow – to keep his whole group in food during the entire trip.
Daniel’s focus at the City Hall was to promote friendship exchanges between the US and China. Chongqing was the U.S. Armed Forces HQ during WW2, headed by General Stilwell. One day Daniel had a brilliant idea. He located the Stilwell HQ building, bought it, and turned it into the General Stilwell Museum. Teaching English soon became a natural extension of the Museum activities. So was the summer Group Homestay Program to the United States. This is how CHI became SISEP’s partner. The Museum outreach was formalized in 1994, when Daniel created the SISEP Foundation. CHI-SISEP cooperation became a model for others to follow. Chinese students as well as American host families and, recently, U.S. host businesses have become direct beneficiaries of Daniel Zhang’s vision. Daniel’s daughter, Beiying, will become the new General Manager of SISEP, continuing in her father’s footsteps.
The last time I visited Daniel in China, we traveled together to Chengdu, a huge industrial megalopolis, less than an hour by plane from Chongqing. The main
square in the middle of Chengdu boasts a giant white statue of the Communist Party of China founder, Mao Tse-tung. Seeing Mao’s statue with his head held high, his gaze fixed beyond the horizon, his outstretched hand pointing to the future of (presumably) Communism can be confusing to a Westerner. The contradiction between Mao’s ideas and the hustle and bustle of unbridled Capitalism in the public square below begs for an explanation. I turned to Daniel and, pointing to Mao, asked: “Daniel, what is Mao saying?” Daniel gave Mao a studied look, pondered the question, then smiled: “Come to Chengdu to make money!” We both broke out laughing thinking the same thought.
Thank you for everything, Daniel. We will miss you.
