Marcia led a very simple life， but she lived within a richly abundantinner world. She was in love with music and nature. She never usedher yearly vacation to go to the States. Instead， she traveled aroundChina and was intoxicated with the natural beauty of mountains andrivers.
A Straightforward CharacterMarcia was open-minded and straightforward. When asked whatmost delighted her in China， she answered “being treated like anyoneelse”， without hesitation. “It’s a big headache to be treated differentlyas a foreigner. I believe none of the foreigners working in China ishappy to be closed off from Chinese people. When she first came to China as an English teacher at the Instituteof International Relations， she was placed in an exclusive hotelfor foreign experts. She was eager to mingle with the ordinary people，however， and felt isolated in the hotel. Later on， the Foreign LanguagesPress invited her as a foreign expert. “I will certainly not work inthe Press if you put me up in the Friendship Hotel，” she stated firmlywhen she discovered that the Press wanted her to stay at the FriendshipHotel， which was for foreigners only. Finally， she had her wish ful filled by living in an apartment outside the hotel. “Now I live amongChinese people with Chinese neighbors，” she said joyfully.
In the early 80s， China had not yet fully opened to the outsideworld. The authorities — following an out-of-date idea of “treatingforeigners differently from natives” — were still stuck to an unseenline that separated ordinary Chinese from foreigners. It was rumoredthat a ball was cancelled once on account of a certain leader who didn’
t like his people dancing with foreigners. “The Chinese people arewarned not to have contact with foreigners. I hate rules like this，” theangry Marcia said. “In some European countries there used to be ghettosfor Jews. The Friendship Hotel is like a ghetto in China for foreigners. She liked riding a bike， a handy tool in China， but as traffic inBeijing became more congested with an incessant stream of vehiclesand thus less friendly to bike riders， it was no longer enjoyable to ridea bike. “In most cases， I take buses now，” she told people. To Marcia’
s dismay however， she learned that very few people in Beijing wait toboard the bus in single-file line. People often jostled with one anotherregardless of age or gender in their attempts to get on the bus. Consequently，strong young men made it on first — leaving women andchildren and the elderly frustrated at the road side. “In America， everybodyhas to stand in line to board the bus，” the disappointed Marciasaid. “Although Americans emphasize individuality， it doesn’t meandepriving other people of their rights. That is， you have the right tochoose your life style， but at the same time you have to respect others’
rights. It is an expression of extreme selfishness to jump the line. Athome， family members take care of each other， so why don’t people dothe same in society? The Grace of a Mountain Flower“Marcia， like a tiny flower shining among hundreds of thousandsof its kind， had the very character of a mountain flower，” Tang said indescribing Marcia. “Insignificant as she was， Marcia was indomitable116 and attractive. She nourished beautiful sentiments regarding China.
She was deeply in love with China， her family and friends， and nature. When talking about her love for nature， Tang told me a story. One dayafter they got married， Tang went to grocery store to buy food for avisitor. He bought some fried sparrows without a second thought. Marciawas very angry when she saw this， and criticized Tang in her mediocreChinese， “You are a protector of the environment. How could younot know that a sparrow is a member of nature and should not be killedfor food?” Tang came to understand his mistake and felt embarrassed.
Of course， he dared not put the fried sparrows on the dinner table.
This was one of the rare times that cross words were spoken betweenthem. They almost never had verbal quarrels. Instead， they often useda Chinese dictionary to settle their disputes. Once Marcia was reallyupset and pointed to a Chinese idiom in a dictionary that read “That’sgoing too far，” to show her indignation to Tang.
Marcia’s love of family left a permanent impression on Tang Huaand Tang Xiaonan — Tang’s daughters from his previous marriage.
Marcia had no children of her own， but she showered unlimited affectionon the two daughters and their children. Tang Hua， the elderdaughter， was sent to live and work in a farming area in Hunan Provinceaccording to a mandatory policy implemented during the CulturalRevolution. Tang Hua sent Zhou Fan， her only daughter， to Beijing andput the little girl under the care of Marcia and Tang in order to giveher a better education. Like many parents and grandparents in China，Ma r c i a went to theboarding school everyweekend to bring hergranddaughter home.
She would attentivelylisten to the child’s talesof life and studying atschool， and carefullyobserve her psychologicalchanges. She would sing songs together with the girl. She guessed that Tang Hua， in farawayHunan， must miss Zhou Fan very much， and sent Tang Hua tapesof the young girl speaking. The younger daughter， Tang Xiaonan，hadn’t been able to conceive even after ten years of marriage. TangXiaonan had seen many doctors and had taken many different medicines，but all in vain. Marcia was very anxious when she saw that TangXiaonan had almost given up hope. Marcia asked friends to search forfertility treatments， and even sent Tang Xiaonan to a specialist in ZhejiangProvince. After all these efforts， a long-awaited boy came intothe world on May 9， 1997. The adorable baby brought Marcia a warm，pleasant atmosphere of home. She took great care of the baby， lookingup a name in a Chinese dictionary for him， and sent the baby’s photosto her relatives and friends abroad. She was indeed the best grandma.
