A letter to my old friend

Dear Little Wu,

Twenty years I missed being with you have passed since I saw you last time in Peking. The black hair has turned to grey but with a well-running mind I knew you would be there, as you always were. There is a feeling of eternity in youth, which makes me amend for everything. I couldn’t help but think about you, who had so much to share with me. Friendship provides us with another soul to feel kinship, with someone to share meaningful conversations of life, to recall the past and to dream for the future, in spite of human shortcomings and frailties. We have never discarded this kinship and we place a high value in this precious friendship. That’s why we tried to look for each other after we had unfortunately lost our contacts.

However， we were not put through by a single dial at once. It took the operator of destiny more than ten years to relay the phone, and we had to be patient in waiting. Yesterday was the great occasion and we were finally put through with such an excitement, which stirs the emotions, moves the soul and fires the blood setting hearts aflame. Your sweet voice reminds me of the golden age when we lived in the neighbourhood, sharing all things with each other: joy and laughter, warmth and hope concerning life’s journey. They are the pleasant memories to be reviewed.

Today we could resume the journey with something as pleasant as in the memory. Now I would like to enclose some photos here for you, and hopefully you can still recognize your old friend. One picture shows my coaching of Tai Chi (shadow boxing) in the Medical Centre for Health here in Westfalen. I enjoy teaching this brilliant cultural tradition of our motherland and at the same time enjoy what life is. In this field we have quite a lot to talk with each other, tracing back to the early days of golden 1983 when we used to get together in the West Palace of Longevity.

In addition to that I also attach a Chinese poem as follows. If it is not readable directly here, you may find it in the enclosed document. I hope, this poem written forty years ago might still suit our actual situation. And now, looking forward to hearing from you soon with my best wishes.

Sincerely yours,

QIAO Yi （乔 毅）

为太极照题写的对联：一招一式皆功夫，亦刚亦柔堪神韵，太极英姿。

本人早年的诗作：浪涛沙令 （他乡思故）

昨夜北风寒，百感纠缠，别时容易见时难。旧景依稀皆逝去，无限悲欢。
春柳小湖边，共议江天，心潮激荡起波澜。肝胆相呈神共倾，亲密无间。

Enclosure: one doc-file and four jpg-files-