An overseas Chinese recently donated eight of his English teaching books to a library in his hometown in Pingtan county, Fujian province, local newspaper Pingtan Times reported on July 13.

Ren Dehui, an overseas Chinese who grew up in Pingtan, Fujian province, recently donated eight of his English teaching books to the library in his hometown. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

The eight books, in which teach grammar, oral English and popular idiom in the US, were written by Ren Dehui, who is in his 70s and has spent half of his life studying and teaching in the United States, according to Ke Jian, a relative of Ren who works at the library.

“I haven’t seen him in person for many years, but we keep in touch by letters and telephone. I knew he is kind of a genius, but I’ll admit it took me by surprise to hear he wrote eight books in English.”

In a written reply to the newspaper, Ren said he took notice of Pingtan’s tremendous change and says he always hopes to contribute to its development.

“My wish is to return to Pingtan one day and teach the children skills of English writing, spoken English and knowledge of studying in the US.”

“Then one day I decided to donate my English works to my hometown library as a token of my thought.”

Ren’s works are of great help for English learners in China especially those who want to study overseas, said Ding Linxin, curator of the library.

“His works appeal to a lot of high school students and college students, who often come here for reference from the books. They are precious fortune to the library and we really appreciate Ren’s kindness.”