Peter Arthur Stanleigh was a Canadian teacher. He came to Wuxi, Jiangsu in 2001, making his first trip to China.
The first registered foreign volunteer, Peter prefers people to call him with his Chinese name, Tang Lei. When working in Toronto, he had many Chinese colleagues and heard many Chinese stories which brought up his curiosity about Chinese culture. So Tang Lei made a decision to have a one-year visit to China and then return to Canada. But 17 years later, Tang hasn’t returned yet.
Tang Lei returned to Canada after his first trip to China in June 2002, but he didn’t feel enough and soon returned to China again with his bags and luggage. After comparing the cities’ population, pillar industries, pollution index and climate, he finally chose Wuxi over other Chinese cities. A year later, he and Hu Linghan, a local girl in Wuxi, fell in love and married.
The 2nd month in Wuxi, Tang joined the Wuxi Foreign Language Volunteer Service Team. On one occasion, he went to the English Corner in the park and got very moved by the passion the local people had to practice English, so he came to the English Corner frequently. Slowly, he felt it was his responsibility to be here and help people practice English.
The English Corner moved from the park to Wuxi library and had new members after some time. Realizing that the majority of the people coming to exercise English changed from middle-aged and seniors to youngsters with higher English level in recent years, Tang Lei even set up a professional English corner at night with several young people he loved talking with.
Two and a half hours every time, two times a week, over ten years, Tang Lei is always there.
In addition to the English corner, Tang Lei also likes to help in seniors’homes, welfare center, stations, scenic areas, or some congested intersections and so on. In one corner of his house, all the equipment for voluntary activities is ready and waiting.
"I actually like being on duty and when I say, 'Stop, stop,' the drivers and pedestrians stop because they don't know what to say to me." Putting on a red waistcoat, wearing a cap and a whistle, and holding a flag in hand, Tang Lei sets out on duty. Tang exclaimed the new traffic rules made traffic in Wuxi safer and more convenient since Wuxi launched the "pedestrians first" campaign in last October, and the "electronic police" was put into use last December.
As volunteers, Tang Lei and his wife will be wherever they’re needed. In tourist resorts, they would be the interpreters and guides. When Wuxi was to host Taihu Expo, Tang and his wife were the first volunteers. In more than 20 days, they expressed their hospitality to people visiting Wuxi over and over again. In 2012, Tang Lei was named "100 Outstanding Volunteers in China".
When Tang returned Canada to visit his family with his wife a month ago, he missed Alipay and WeChat because he already got used to mobile payments in China. "China has surpassed many Western countries in the application of science and technology, but people in these countries are not aware of it." Tang Lei has a friend who works in the media industry and is still wondering about whether he can enjoy good steaks in China. Tang Lei urged him to come and see it with his own eyes, and China will surely surprise him.
72 years old, Tang Lei loves word puzzles and does it every day, and exercises his body by at least one long walk with at least 10,000 paces every week. As long as his body keeps working, Tang Lei will never stop offering his help and passion.
（(source:ourjiangsu.com）
