【推荐3】Cao Dewang was born in May 1946 in Shanghai. His family is said to have high social standing in Fujian province. But his family background didn’t guarantee a wealthy lifestyle. According to Cao, soon after he was born, his family lost all of their possessions on their way back from Shanghai to Fujian.

After losing their wealth, the family farm became their only means of survival. Cao worked on his family’s farm, and there were many days when he’d go without food. In order to support his family, he dropped out of school when he was 14 and began to work. Nonetheless,he taught himself over a thousand Chinese characters with the help of a dictionary.

Cao began selling tobacco leaves and fruit to earn a living. He also worked as a cook and repaired bicycles. For over twenty years, he worked 16 hours a day to escape poverty.

Cao Dewang was working as a sales manager at a glass factory run by the local government for glass used in water meters. He saved up his earnings until he had enough to buy out the very factory in 1983.

Japanese car producers were looking to set up production of their vehicles in China in the 80’s. Cao saw the opportunity and dove into the production of vehicle glass, establishing the Yaohua Automotive Glass Co. in 1987.

Now named Fuyao Group, it started as a joint venture company before it was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1993 and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2015. Headquartered in Fuging, Fujian, it is currently one of the largest auto glass producers in the world. Audi, Fiat, Ford, Honda, and Nissan are among Fuyao’s biggest customers.

Since 2013, the Fuyao Group had been looking to establish a factory in the U.S. and was looking at possible sites. It picked the site of an abandoned GM assembly plant in Dayton, Ohio in 2014. The factory brought job opportunities to former GM workers who had been unemployed for a long time.

Not disregarding his contributions to China’s economy, Cao is considered as China’s most generous philanthropist. Cao believes, “The more I donate, the more I realize how little use I have for money.” He further adds that his fortune is better used in the education of children.

【推荐1】As the Alaskan sky gradually turned dark blue, the commands to my sled dog team broke the silence. I threw a glance over my shoulder as I thundered down the frozen waterway in the sub-zero temperatures. Where was Mike, my guide? I wondered if he realized I was miles away.

While out exploring in the early evening, my lead dog smelled something it couldn’t resist. Regardless of my instructions, it instinctively wheeled around and led all the other dogs in the opposite direction at full speed. In my conversations with Mike over the past few days, I’d been told that if I got lost, I would be in big trouble. There weren’t any supplies for me — no extra clothing or shelter, not to mention the firestarter, and we had seen wolf tracks regularly.

It was March, the end of the Alaskan winter. A long journey from Australia had brought me to Yukon, Alaska. My hosts’ log cabin was the starting point for my 10-day adventure. Wayne and Scarlett, my hosts, lived a sustainable life. They hunted, fished, and gathered food while consciously minimizing their carbon footprint. Having enjoyed many years of exploring the Alaskan wilderness, the couple chose to help adventurers to experience the same lifestyle.

Driving a team of sled dogs is not as easy as it appears. I’d imagined it would be a very relaxing experience, in which I would ride along with a pleasant smile while gazing at the passing landscape. In reality it turned out much tougher. You must predict where your dogs would go and how the surface ahead might change.

During the journey, we stayed in a different place every night, and took care of our dog teams. These dogs can guarantee our safety and help us escape dangerous situations, so their health and well-being always rank first. After we settled, we started collecting snow for water and cutting firewood.

Luckily, I didn’t end up in the fangs (尖牙) of wolves. Mike found me sometime later. Our dog teams, in the excitement of being reunited, headed straight for each other and got tangled up in the ropes. There’s never a boring moment.

【推荐2】After thirty-two hours on hard seats in the train through the Georgia woods, Hattie was alarmed from a light sleep by the train conductor’s yell, “Broad Street Station, Philadelphia!”. Hattie climbed from the train, her skirt still dotted with Georgia mud, the dream of Philadelphia round as a marble in her mouth and the fear of it a needle in her chest.

Hattie and her mother and sisters climbed the steps from the train platform up into the main hall of the station. The round-shaped roof arched. Pigeons cooed in the rafters (椽子). Hattie was only fifteen then, slim as a finger. They stood at the crowd’s edge, waiting for a break in the flow of people. Hattie stepped into the crowd. Mama called, “Come back! You’ll be lost!”. But the crowd was too thick for her to turn back, and she was pushed out onto a long sidewalk .

The outside street was crowded with more people than Hattie had ever seen in one place. A   flower vendor’s (摊贩) cart caught her eye. A Negro woman approached and indicated a bunch of flowers. The white vendor took the flowers from a bucket and before wrapping them in paper, he shook the water gently from the stems. As the woman handed the money, she upset three of the flower arrangements, which caused vases and blossoms to crash on the pavement. Hattie was frightened, waiting for the unavoidable explosion. Unexpectedly, the vendor bent down to pick up the mess. The Negro woman gestured apologetically and reached into her purse again to pay for what she’d damaged. In a couple of minutes it was all settled, and the woman walked on down the street with her nose in the flowers, as if nothing had happened.

Hattie looked more closely at the crowd on the sidewalk. Four Negro girls walked by, teenagers like Hattie, chatting to one another in the way only white girls walked and talked in the city streets of Georgia. At last, her mother and sisters exited the station and stood next to her.

“Mama,” Hattie said. “I’ll never go back, never. ”