TOMSK, Nov 12 – RIA Tomsk, Eleanora Chernaya. Student of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) Yu Xiaolin organized a meeting of a Tomsk and a
China resident, who became friends "by correspondence" almost half a
century ago. The real meeting of the schoolgirl from the USSR and her Chinese
friend was then prevented by geopolitics. Dream came true in 2019. Details – in
the material of RIA Tomsk.
"A friend from China is looking for you..."
Yu Xiaolin is studying at the second year of master's degree in TPU. He heads
the Association of Chinese Students in Polytechnic University, speaks Russian
well and is interested in everything related to the history of diplomatic
relations between China and Russia. This year he himself became a kind of
ambassador of China to Tomsk.
Everything began with the message from the unfamiliar girl from the Moscow
State University (MSU) – Chinese woman. She was looking for a compatriots in
Siberia who speaks Russian and can find a Tomsk citizen. The girl herself knew
little about this resident of Tomsk – she just was trying to help friends to
make contact.
There was no current address and phone of the Siberian. As a hint – her
photo and reference from the Department of Internal Affairs of the Tomsk
Regional Executive Committee from 1991. "Natalia Roitherman, 1949 year of
birth, place of work and residence address." Yu went at random – who knows
if Natalia lives on the indicated street 28 years later...
He was lucky. The door was opened by 70-year-old Natalia Borisovna.
"Your friend is looking for you by correspondence. Remember him? When
you were in school, you texted with a student from China. He wants to meet
you", – Yu showed a photo as a confirmation that Natalia sent to China a
few decades ago.
© предоставил Юй Сяолинь
Meeting in Tomsk: Natalia with family, Huang Min Jun (far left), his son (far right), the second right – Yu Xiaolin
Silk flaps in envelope
Later Natalia Roitherman told the student details of school friendship:
"I remember when representatives of the district department of
national education and the senior pioneer counselor came to our school in
Tomsk. They offered to text with foreign schoolchildren. Three countries to
choose from: China, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia. I chose the People's Republic of
China.
The boy's name was Huang Min Jun. I texted him, got an answer. We started
to be friends. We were 14 years old. We sent each other along with letters
postcards, handkerchief, silk flaps in envelopes. We've been texting for four
years. And then silence. I thought we just became adults.
And in 1985, I was summoned to the Committee for State Security (CSS). They
say you're wanted by a Chinese citizen, Huang Min Jun. It turns out that our
correspondence stopped due to the rift between the People's Republic of China
and the USSR (in the late 1950s, the so-called Soviet-Chinese split began – a
diplomatic conflict that peaked in 1969. – Ed.). The letters just didn't reach.
So we began to write again. Huang sent me parcels of candy, some stuff. But
years passed, and we stopped communicating again".
This time, school friends really plunged into "adult stuff".
Everyone had family, work, big and small worries. Except Huang never left a
dream to meet a Russian friend. He tried to find Natalia in 1991, but was
unable to leave the PRC. Only a certificate from the Tomsk Regional Executive
Committee about the address of the girlfriend, received in the year of collapse
of the USSR, remained in his hand.
In early 2019, he connected his entire family to the organization of the
meeting. The niece found a friend at the Moscow State University, and already
she found in social networks the necessary "ambassador" – a student
of TPU.
Half a century later
After a visit Natalia Borisovna, Yu Xiaolin helped Huang buy air tickets.
And three months later there was a meeting, which the heroes of correspondence
waited for almost 50 years. Witnesses of the dream of 70-year-old friends were
their children – Huang took a son to his Siberian trip, Natalia met dear guests
with a son, daughter and grandchildren.
Hugs, gift exchange, Russian table. And talk: "What happened in the
'60s?", How did you survive the '90s?".
© предоставил Юй Сяолинь
Many years ago Natalia sent this photo to the People's Republic of China to the pen friend
Huang said that during the tense relations between the two states he risked
greatly, storing photos and letters of Natalia – for such "the system
could seriously punish". But the desire to see a friend who once wrote a
neat handwriting about the everyday life of Soviet schoolchildren was stronger
than all geopolitical and life circumstances.
Huang's vacation in Tomsk lasted only a few days. Natalia Borisovna cried,
escorting a friend. They are currently continuing correspondence and planning a
new meeting – in Russia or China. Huang writes letters in Russian, with a
dictionary. Tomsk citizen still signs the cards with beautiful handwriting. Like half a century ago.