Mr. Ronald Sakolsky, We’ve Been Looking for You — CEAIE Extends Warm Welcome for Your Return
Publish Date: 2026-06-09 | Visits: 43
Recently, an American teacher, Ronald Sakolsky, has become a household name in both Chinese and American educational circles and among the general public.
Let’s turn back to 1999.
Since 1996, the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) has collaborated with the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations to launch the U.S.-China Teachers Exchange Program (TEP), which sends teachers from both countries to teach in the other. By the invitation of CEAIE, Mr. Sakolsky from Pennsylvania joined the program in 1999 and worked at Luoyang Foreign Language School, teaching English to secondary school students.
(Historical archive of the TEP program the right image shows the program’s 2001 newsletter, which recorded how Mr. Sakolsky raised funds for Yin Yuzhen and her husband, who were combating desertification in Inner Mongolia, as well as the couple’s story of purchasing saplings with the donation and welcoming Mr. Sakolsky to visit China again in the future.)
While teaching in China under the TEP program, Mr. Sakolsky learned about the efforts of Yin Yuzhen and her husband to combat desertification in Inner Mongolia through a TV program. Deeply moved by their determination to create a green miracle in the vast desert, he voluntarily raised $5,000 and traveled to Inner Mongolia accompanied by Mr. Bai Fan, then Vice Principal of Luoyang Foreign Language School, to hand over the donation in person.
In 2000, Mr. Sakolsky concluded his work with the program and returned to the United States. Since then, he has maintained close contact with Luoyang, his “second hometown”, keeping regular correspondence with his good friend Mr. Bai Fan. It is this recent nationwide search that brings these cherished memories back into public view again.
Founded in 1981, CEAIE has long been committed to advancing bilateral and multilateral international educational exchanges and cooperation, including those with the United States. Over the past 45 years, the association has facilitated nearly 10,000 inbound and outbound visits for Chinese and international teachers, supporting mutual learning, deepening understanding and fostering friendship between teachers and students of all backgrounds. Over the decades, many more heartwarming stories like Mr. Sakolsky’s have unfolded along the way.
As President Xi Jinping noted, the hope of China-U.S. relations is in the people, the foundation lies among the people, the future lies with the youth, and the vitality springs from local communities. Twenty-seven years ago, an American teacher came to China with goodwill through a grassroots educational exchange program, and met warm-hearted friends here. Today, that cross-ocean bond of kindness has grown into 50,000 trees standing in the Mu Us Desert of Inner Mongolia — a vivid testament to the enduring friendship between the China and American peoples.
This summer, CEAIE will officially invite Mr. Sakolsky back to China to continue this new chapter of China-U.S. people-to-people friendship that has spanned twenty-seven years.
To be continued…
(By Department of Higher Education Cooperation)
