Professor Chen Lin was a famous Chinese educator of the English language. He did a lot to help English learners in China. On January 21, 2023, he passed away at the age of 101.
When he was interviewed in 2006, he talked about an amusing experience with China Daily to express his special love for it: "I must say that over the past 25 years, I have come to like this English title—China Daily—more and more, with my love for the newspaper. One small event in my relationship with China Daily was an amusing and unforgettable one.
"In 1982, China Daily celebrated its first anniversary（周年纪念）. At that time, Katherine Flower of the UK and I were helping with the British English-teaching TV programme ‘Follow Me.'
"Soon after that, the editorial board（编辑部）suggested that Kathy and I could help them with their publicity（宣传; 推广）programme. So the two of us appeared in a CCTV ad in which we sat at breakfast table reading China Daily. We raised our heads and said to the audience, smiling: ‘Let's read China Daily DAILY.'
"We thought it was very clever and enjoyed it."
From then on, the number of China Daily's readers has been increasing. More and more people, both at home and abroad, fell in love with it. Then at Professor Chen Lin's suggestion, a series of English weekly newspapers for middle school students, such as 21st Century Teens JR and 21st Century Teens SR, came out after China Daily. Now, they are enjoyed by many teachers and students in China.
*China Daily is China's official English newspaper. Its Chinese title is 《中国日报》.
