Sun Yuzhen (second from left) and her colleagues pose for a photo at Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Central China's Henan province, in 1984. [Photo by Jamie Fouss/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
On Oct 26, Jamie Fouss finally spoke to Sun Yuzhen via WeChat, 34 years after they met at Longmen Grottoes in Central China's Henan province. One was a tourist from the US who likes to take photographs, the other, a designer at a carpet factory in Beijing. Neither thought they would get in touch again.
Back in 1984, Sun was traveling with her colleagues from the carpet factory. Fouss, 28, had just finished his mission with the Peace Corps, an organization formed by the US government to promote its foreign policy in developing countries, and started a six-week trip in China with his friends before a planned return to the US.
Fouss met Sun's group at Longmen Grottoes and thought Sun and another woman were cute, so he tried to talk to them. Neither spoke the other's language. With the help of gestures and a dictionary, they got to know each other and he took a photo.
Sun Yuzhen watches as her colleague draws a sketch of a carpet. [Photo by Jamie Fouss/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
"We gave him the phone number of our factory and drew him a map to show him the factory's position in Beijing. Several days later, he found our factory," Sun said. "We showed him around and talked to him with the help of an interpreter."
They never met again and Fouss continued his trip, during which he took lots of photos.
In October, Chinese magazine Popular Photography published Fouss's photos from that period and the stories behind them. Fouss said he wished to find the people in his photos and send the pictures to them.
On Oct 26, Sun's daughter-in-law contacted Fouss. Sun and Fouss got in touch with each other and exchanged the latest development in their lives.
