A Journey of Legend
Loving is Caring
Little Chestnut Who Loves to Laugh, and the Kind-Hearted Children from China
Alongside the love bags delivered in our Loving is Caring campaign, UAC volunteers also passed on Chinese greetings and English letters from children in Shanghai and Kunming, hoping the seniors would feel the warmth sent from China. The greetings and letters came from children aged 10 to 16 in Shanghai and Kunming. For many, the English letter was the first they had ever written, with help from their teachers. The letters are short, and some children even used ballpoint pens in different colors – sincere and touching.
Take Li Muyuan, a sixth-grader at Yanhuang School in Kunming. In her letter she honestly admitted that, not living through a pandemic as severe as the one in the US, she couldn’t fully imagine what it was like – but as soon as she heard the letters were for seniors in American nursing homes, she gladly agreed. As she wrote, she kept thinking about how to offer the seniors a little care and comfort, and worked hard to write her letter well. Some students had lots of extracurricular classes over the holidays, yet when they learned they could help the seniors, they made time to finish their letters. We are truly grateful.
The seniors who received the letters all responded with delighted smiles, hoping to keep the letters and even to write back to the children.
The gentleman who received this letter was especially excited. He insisted on being photographed under the big tree in front of his house, so he could properly introduce his family’s 300-year-old tree.
The first three images show the first letter received by Ms. Sherry in Shanghai from her class – the very letter held by the gentleman photographed in front of his family’s 300-year-old tree. It was written by Hua Lei (“Little Chestnut”), a lovely girl who loves life and loves to laugh. At 11:30 at night, Little Chestnut asked her teacher whether she could write in blue pen. Her teacher told her to get some rest since it was so late – but an hour later, at 00:40, Little Chestnut sent her teacher photos of her beautiful handwritten letter. She had spent an hour late at night copying it out and revising it, which deeply moved not only Ms. Sherry but all of us as well.
The first three images show the first letter received by Ms. Sherry in Shanghai from her class – the very letter held by the gentleman photographed in front of his family’s 300-year-old tree. It was written by Hua Lei (“Little Chestnut”), a lovely girl who loves life and loves to laugh. At 11:30 at night, Little Chestnut asked her teacher whether she could write in blue pen. Her teacher told her to get some rest since it was so late – but an hour later, at 00:40, Little Chestnut sent her teacher photos of her beautiful handwritten letter. She had spent an hour late at night copying it out and revising it, which deeply moved not only Ms. Sherry but all of us as well.
For easier reading, here is an excerpt from Little Chestnut’s letter:
2. I made friends with a boy who I thought was difficult to get alone with. I’m very, super happy! (ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ) . So go ahead and do what you want to do!
3. I love taking picture of the sky. It always surprises me! (- ^O ^-) The sky is very beautiful all the time. Many of the colors in the sky are dreamy. I think it is a gift from nature! It brought a lot of poetry to life. If you would like to email me, I’ll send you these photos.
4. I saw a great post recently. The content is:
When you don’t sleep well,
You feel like the whole world is against you.
When you sleep well,
The world is peaceful and beautiful.
So, if you feel bad, nervous and worried, go to bed early, then everything will be fine! (Hope this can help you ~!) (=･◡･=)
5. Making calendar is also a happy thing ◡. Use some paper and marker, do a calendar and draw something you like. I think it is useful, beautiful and creative. (I’ve done three calendars.)
The fourth image is a letter from Huang Yuxin, a ninth-grader Ms. Sherry taught for a month last year. She said this was her first time communicating with a friend from abroad and she was hoping to find a foreign pen pal; she also felt this letter-writing project was truly meaningful. The fifth image is a collection of some of the children’s handwritten letters.
Thank you, children, for your sincere kindness. As you read these letters, I’m sure you too – like every member of UAC – are happy that Little Chestnut made a new friend, and can almost see that dreamlike, beautiful sky.
Besides the English letters, we would also like to share some of the Chinese greetings our volunteers wrote onto the love cards.
Love cards overflowing with heartfelt Chinese greetings. Among them, when we read Li Zhiyuan from Shanghai writing “Cherish every day you are alive, and cherish everyone around you”, we wanted to give him a big hug 
Here are photos of some of the children who contributed, and of the organizers, Ms. Sherry and Ms. Emily:
Hua Lei (“Little Chestnut”), who loves to laugh – Shanghai
Huang Yuxin, who wants a foreign pen pal – Shanghai
Jin Ying – Shanghai
Zhang Yihao – Shanghai
Cindy Li – Shanghai
Zhu Zhiling, lively, cheerful and always happy to share – Kunming
Huang Huiyi, who eagerly helped her teacher collect the letters – Shanghai
Dear Ms. Sherry, thank you for helping organize the children’s letters and bringing the seniors such a wonderful surprise 
Dear Ms. Emily (Yanhuang School, Kunming), thank you for helping organize the children’s letters and bringing the seniors such joy 
Thank you all once again. It is because of your love, help and support that we get to see more smiles on the seniors’ faces – and that we can have, as Little Chestnut put it, such a dreamlike, beautiful sky.
Photo from Pexels.
Note: space doesn’t allow us to show photos of every child who wrote a letter. We list them all here to express the heartfelt thanks of everyone at UAC: Zhu Jianwen, Yuan Dexiang, Li Minghao, Huang Yuxin, Jin Ying, Zhang Qiankun, Huang Huiyi, Hua Lei (Little Chestnut), Dai Zhengjie, Zhang Yihao, Xu Ruicong, Yang Shengjie, Cindy Li, Lu Peiwen, Yang Yang, Li Zhiyuan, Liu Jidong, Ling Yankai, Wu Yunpeng, Liu Sitian, Li Muyuan, Zhang Guangyu, Sun Hongtao, Ma Jiying, Zhang Rong and Zhu Zhiling. Your words are more than words – they are love, sunshine and hope for tomorrow. Thank you again to the children, the teachers and all our hard-working volunteers.
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