Final farewell to one 'who truly loved China'

Three years after she died in Beijing at the age of 97, Ruth Weiss (1908-2006), a Chinese Austrian who lived and worked in China for more than half a century, realized her last wish of resting by her good friend Madame Soong Ching Ling.

Family and friends shared memories about her unusual life at a special ceremony held in May for the unveiling of her memorial at the Soong Ching Ling International Cemetery in Shanghai.

"Ruth Weiss was a woman who truly loved China," recalls Scott Seligman, who was the Beijing representative of the US-China Business Council in the early 1980s. "She gave up a lot of opportunities to live a more comfortable life elsewhere in order to return to her adopted country and help build New China."