Remembering a dear friend

For this visit, I brought the book The Legend of Bussiere autographed by Zhang, the author, and Bussiere Jr. and Lindsey Jr. five years ago. Zhang and his wife He Jie spent several years, starting with Mount Xishan, traveling in many places in China and France, doing arduous and careful research and interviews. They got a great amount of firsthand information and wrote the most comprehensive and detailed biography of Bussiere to date.

To our pleasant surprise, when we had just arrived, Zhang also appeared on the mountain road unexpectedly. It turned out that this year is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and a Chinese TV station had invited Zhang as a special guest to be interviewed in Jardin Bussiere. When we finally arrived at the south house, which overlooked the skyline of Beijing, Zhang's interview had just ended. He happily chatted with us and kindly told us more interesting anecdotes.

The arborvitaes, maples and locusts planted back then have grown into towering trees. We were so fortunate to enjoy the beautifully wooded garden and listen to the narration of the deeply knowledgeable author about the history of this place.

All this once again brought us back to the heyday of Jardin Bussiere.

Bussiere and his pioneering peers, with hearts transcending the boundaries of race and nation in his time, deeply touched us.

As we had to bid farewell to Jardin Bussiere, each of us cherished a shared wish that more people will be able to appreciate this beautiful legend of "the pioneering generation planting trees, and the later generation enjoying the shade".

The writer is executive director of the MNC Council for Carbon Neutrality.