US teenager dreams of bringing US, China closer
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Thumbs up for chinese leaders
A series of events that took place last year broadened Hannah's understanding of China.
In the weekend following the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan, China, Hannah watched news coverage on rescue and relief efforts at the home of her Chinese teacher Liu.
She broke into tears when thinking about her friends and those lovely pandas in Wolong, which were also in the quake zone.
Moreover, she was deeply touched by the TV footage showing Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao bringing confidence and courage to the unfortunate victims in the quake zone. "Chinese leaders are so good," she said at the time.
Later, Hannah decided to write a letter to the Chinese leaders and give them a thumbs-up.
"Dear Grandpa Hu and Grandpa Wen, your love to the quake-affected in Sichuan has again won worldwide respect for China. I hope all the leaders of other countries can also make it this way in their administration," she wrote.
"I admire your people-first style and selfless spirit, and I pay my respect to you!" Hannah concluded.
The letter and her classmates' letters to China's leaders and armed forces were later published in the Overseas Version of the Chinese newspaper People's Daily and received great attention both in China and worldwide.
In that year, Hannah also became an avid fan of the Beijing Olympics and won an award in a global Chinese essay contest to celebrate the event.
Bringing the two nations closer
In the eyes of her parents and her Chinese teacher, Hannah's special affinity with China put her in an unique position to help bring the two nations closer.
That's also Hannah's ideal.
Liu, her longtime Chinese teacher, told Xinhua that Hannah once said she wanted to become a translator.
Thus, she could "introduce good things from the United States to China and vice versa."
According to Liu, because she has been immersed in Chinese culture for a long time, Hannah has adopted many Chinese traditional values, including respect for family, parents and teachers.
At the same time, she is in many ways also a typical US teenager -- open, active and optimistic.
Excelling at both academic and social skills, she is a good public speaker, dancer and equestrian.
John Rudoff, her adoptive father and also a cardiologist, told Xinhua that his adopted daughter, his only child, had been active from a very early age in the local Chinese community.
Every time there was a celebration in the community, Hannah would be invited to be the master of ceremony or a performer.
John and his wife, Joanne, supported their daughter's participation in those events fullheartedly and even fell in love with Chinese themselves, thanks to Hannah's influence.
John said that besides her expertise in Chinese, Hannah also had great social skills.
"She can get along very well with other people. She makes a lot of friends every time she goes to China," he said.
John added he firmly believed his daughter was predestined to have a successful career involving both US and Chinese cultures.
"She is sort of born for that," he said.
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