One year has passed...

It was about one year ago my granddad Wang Yaotian passed away. I was in the US so I couldn’t possibly do anything but to sit on my bed and cry cry cry.

I always knew that my granddad was a great person, everyone in the family spoke so highly about him, sometimes I would even see him on some magazine cover. Although I don’t know him that well as I spent all my life in Sweden while he spent his life in Shanghai, he has always been a big part of my life. I have always looked up to him. He always told me to read many books and always aim higher.

I remember those days when we would walk on Anfu Road and go to Xinhua bookstore because he wanted me to read some new books. Or those days we would grab a taxi and drive around The Bund, because he loved to see how Shanghai developed into a big international city.

Whenever I saw him in the house, he was either reading, writing, eating, playing solitaire (patience) or talking about some meeting. I also remember that he particularly liked poems so he tried to teach me how to memorize poems from his favorite poet Li Bai. He always told me I was very intelligent because I could memorize them so fast and that made me feel special.

It wasn’t before after my grandfather passed away that I really became curious to find out who he really was. As he’s quite famous within the economic field I would do some research on him and get lots of hits on google (even in English).

Here are some things I would find from the internet in English.

"Professor Wang Yaotian, director of the Shanghai Research Center of the World Trade Organization, said he is sure private firms will be attractive to overseas investors because "they are good at adapting to market demand, flexible in their operations and demonstrate initiative."

"WTO entry is also a great opportunity for the banking sector, powerful economic growth that will likely be generated from WTO entry will demand more support from financial sectors," said Wang Yaotian, a renowned expert in WTO research, in a recent interview with Shanghai Star."

"Wang Ming (my aunt), a researcher with the Shanghai International Trade Institute and daughter of a prestigious Chinese scholar. Her late father, Wang Yaotian, ended his enforced labor transformation in the countryside and returned to Shanghai in the same year of Nixon's visit. The farther used to serve as an interpreter of U.S. military in China during World War II and later studied and obtained doctor's degree in the United States.
On the eve of Nixon's visit, her father compiled a book for students about the United States based on his earlier experience in the country. Wang Ming later became a legal expert on the World Trade Organization. And her son and nephews spent years in the U.S. to study law on international economics.
"The fate of my family is closed connected with China's reform and opening to the outside world," Wang Ming said."

Here are also some books he wrote,
Wang Yaotian, "The Formulation of the Framework and Principles of International Service Trade,"
WangYaotian, International Business ,
WangYaotian, International Trade Principles
Wang Yaotian, International Trade
Wang Yaotian, "On the Use of Generalized System of Preferences to Expand the Exports of Chinese Finished Products,
Wang Yaotian, "The Theoretical Base of China's Reform in Foreign Trade System

How I would just like to turn back time and sit with him once again and question him about China’s bright future or which place has the best dumplings.

I believe it's on the 24th, WTO will arrange a ceremony. I just wish I could have been there.