I met Jin Jiansheng at Harvard on the second day after his arrival in the United States in 1979.  This was just after the establishment of diplomatic relations and I think perhaps he was the first person I ever met from the People’s Republic of China. 

The first thing I remember is that initially he refused to take any elevators.  He said there was too much modernization in America and it made him dizzy. At that time he was supported by the Chinese government and he only received about $100 per month for living expenses.   That was hardly enough to live on in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Nevertheless, Jiansheng was resourceful and he managed to get by.  Even though initially life was somewhat difficult, and lonely, Jiansheng was incredibly cheerful and generous.  He would never let me treat him to a meal.  He always insisted on paying, which was a little ridiculous but there was never any way to argue with him.

I remember one of the first things he asked me was how Binbin could apply to graduate school in the States. Binbin was first, but Jiansheng was always so good to all his friends.  Little did I know how many friends, and friends of friends, over the next years he would help to apply to school in America. 

Jiansheng got his driving license very quickly.  The next thing I knew he wanted to buy a car.  He found a real bargain.  It must have been about 25 years old, but it only cost $200!

After Binbin arrived in America, they would invite me to dinner just about every single night.  Since they lived close by, no matter what they were doing they always had time to ask me to join them.  Before long I had met many of their friends and family members. 

With Binbin settled in America, the next step in Jin Jiansheng’s plan was to bring Pangpang over.  I think it was probably the following year that Pangpang arrived on the scene.  On one occasion I brought Pangpang back to the U.S. from Beijing.  He must have been about 6 years old.  Jiansheng absolutely insisted on driving to New York to pick us up.  I think he probably would have driven all the way to San Francisco to get us if it had been possible.

Not only did Jin Jiansheng become accustomed to the modernization in America very quickly, within a very short time he was also a great Boston sports fan.  Whether it was baseball or basketball, he was always interested in the games and the players.  Because my father was very involved in sports, Jiansheng would always ask me what my father thought about this or that player.  When they met they shared a common language -- the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics.  Even after Jiansheng returned to China whenever I would see him he would still ask me what my father thought about the latest game or the newest player.

My very deepest impression of Jiansheng is what a wonderful friend he was. Although he no longer needed my help, he remained to the end extremely grateful and he never forgot those difficult times when he first arrived in the U.S. As the years went by and his circle of friends grew, we began to go in different directions and we had fewer opportunities to meet. Nevertheless, after he moved back to China, no matter how busy he was, whenever I visited he would always insist on getting together, and just as it was in America he would invite me to dinner.  It was as if no time at all had passed and we would just pick up where we had left off in Boston.  The last time I saw him in 2011 he had already been diagnosed but when I went to visit him he was his usual self, laughing and joking, and he insisted that everything was fine. As I was leaving his apartment, he told me to be sure to call the next time I came to China.  Here on in, my trips to China will never be quite the same.

Jin Jiansheng never forgot his friends, and I will never forget him. 

Nancy Hearst