Famed canadian volunteer shines in Wuxi

Tang Lei, from Ontario, Canada, gave himself this Chinese name after having lived in Wuxi for nearly 16 years, and having helped others for all that time.

Born in 1946, he came to Wuxi in 2001 and settled down here in 2003. People often say that he is similar to Norman Bethune, because they both came from Ontario, Canada and unselfishly offered help to Chinese people.

Tang Lei communicates with English lovers at the English corner of Wuxi Library, on Nov 14, 2015. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Tang first worked as a dean in an English training school in Wuxi. One day, he happened to come to a park's English corner, a small area where people exchange ideas in English. There, people were eager to communicate and make friends with him. Tang was deeply impressed by their enthusiasm and went there every Sunday.

The school leader was unhappy about it, however, and barred Tang from teaching English freely outside the school. To continue joining the English corner, he resigned his position and took another job as an English teacher in a local vocational college, although the salary was only half that of his last job.

Tang Lei takes part in an environmental protection activity near Lihu Lake, Wuxi, on July 31, 2005. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Later, the municipal library lent a room on its third floor to the English corner. Every weekend, many English lovers gather there and sit around Tang practicing their oral English and exchanging ideas freely. To date, Tang has participated in the English corner more than 1,000 times, becoming very popular with the city's foreign company employees and many other English lovers.

Tang Lei celecrates the InternationalVolunteer Day for Social and Economic Developmentwith his friends on Dec 5, 2005. [Photo/wxrb.com]