Mr. Norman Cliff, an old British man, reminisced about the experiences in Yantai during the "World War II" and sighed with deep feeling of the great changes today in his letter. He named his own residence in London "Yantai"-----------
There is a Chinese Heart in London
News from Yantai Evening:
Yesterday morning, a letter from an old British man named Norman Cliff was translated into Chinese, in the Office for Foreign Affairs of the City. Every one presented was moved by his deep feeling of Yantai, revealed between the lines and surprised by the outstrage of Japanese army who invaded China.
It is the 5th anniversary of both the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the liberation of Yantai. Mr. Cliff, from a perspective of a foreigner, reviewed the history that he was born in Yantai in 1925 and studied in Yantai British Church School during the period from 1930 to 1941. He said in his letter : "In 1938, Japanese occupied Zhifu, our gate facing to the seashore was guarded by Japanese soldiers. Peasants from Muping County and other places often pushed wheel-barrows, carrying some cattles and vegetables to the city of Yantai via Ninghai Gate. They were treated rudely by those Japanese soldiers at our gate." In November, 1942, they were forced by the Japanese soldiers to leave the spacious courtyard and come to Yuhuangding by rickshaw and settled down in the house of the American Presbyterian Church where it was very crowded. They were not liberated until August, 1945.
Mr. Cliff has deep feeling for the vicissitudes of life in Yantai. Mr. Chen Zhiqiang, the interpreter of the Office for Foreign Affairs of the City, said that Mr. Cliff gives himself a Chinese name "Ke Xile", meaning the feeling of rejoices. In his letter, it reads: "After liberation, I have been to Yantai 4 times. The City is very rapid for its development and very active in trade and commerce. Each time in Yantai, Mr. Liu Xingbang (transliteration) and other friends always provided me with a car for visiting the former schools. The navy authority is very friendly, allowing me to see those old buildings." He cherished very much the memory of his childhood and boyhood spent in Yantai, swimming, skating and having picnics, etc. He has deep impression of the mild climate and delightful scenery there. In memory of Yantai, he named his house in London "Yantai". In his letter, he said: "I think I am the permanent citizen of this beautiful city."
