On this Day in Chinese History; 27 December

This day, 27 December, in 1987, Rewi Alley died of illness in Beijing. A Kiwi born in 1897, Alley came to China in 1927 where he would initiate the Gung Ho Movement, the promoting thereof seeing him walk or ride 30,000 kilometres across 16 provinces. An honorary citizen of both Beijing and Gansu, after Alley’s death, Deng Xiaoping wrote the inscription, “The great internationalist fighter will live forever”.