It
was a hot mid-summer day in July 2000, Shanghai. Miss Yuan Zhiqin with her
American fiancé, Tucker, was waiting anxiously at Shanghai Hongqiao
International Airport for his parents—her future American parents-in-law—to
arrive. It was also the day of their wedding, which would proceed shortly after
the arrival of the guests coming afar from the United States.
It
was not unusual nowadays that a young promising Western expatriate like Tucker,
who was sent by his U.S. company to work in China, fell in love with the
country and the culture and, inevitably, a young attractive Chinese woman. But
it was quite a thrill, at least for Miss Yuan—an ordinary girl growing up in
Shanghai, to have discovered long after they “went steady” that her future
father-in-law was actually the more-than-famed former Vice President of the
United States, Dan Quayle.
One
may argue that Mr. Vice President couldn’t even spell “potatoes,” but the old
saying “Like father, like son” may not always apply. The junior Quayle was not
only utterly fluent in Chinese, but also admirably impressive with his Chinese
calligraphy and his knowledge of Chinese history. He was especially fond of
Chinese characters and the Chinese chess, and had studied Chinese for a year at
Sichuan University in Sichuan Province, probably where he acquired a keen taste
for hot chili peppers and the Chinese cuisine.
Now the young couple has
started their new life back on this side of the Pacific Ocean, facing new
challenges in a new environment. We wish young Mrs. Quayle all the best in her
new adopted country. (written by Peipei Shapiro, China Institute teacher)