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The story of a moderately educated man from rural China who has been married to an American woman with a PhD degree for 20 years has gone viral on mainland social media. Wu Yanju, 44, was born in a village in Yuzhou, central Henan province. His family was so poor that he had to sleep in a room shared with the livestock his parents raised, reported by Jimu News. Although he studied well, hoping to change his fate through education, Wu left school at the age of 15 because his parents were not able to support his studies. Wu then took up a manual labour job at a mine near his village where his father also worked. Not long later, his right eye was seriously injured while he was moving rocks. Despite having surgery, Wu’s eyesight remained weak. Like many people with impaired vision, Wu learned the skill of massage before going to work at a massage parlour in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in northwestern China. Wu and his future wife Amy Thames first met in September 2004 when she had a massage at the parlour. Thames, from the United States, graduated from a university with a bachelor’s degree in education and was working as a kindergarten teacher in Xinjiang at the time. Their second encounter came some weeks later when Thames ran to the massage parlour seeking Wu’s help because she was being followed by a strange man. Wu said at first he did not understand what Thames said because he did not speak English. With the help of an electronic dictionary, he figured out her problem and made sure Thames got home safely. They became friends and soon after romantic partners. Despite the language barrier, the couple registered for marriage in March 2005. Wu said his wife, who was also born into a poor family in the US, was able to relate to him. The only challenge for her was using squat toilets, which are commonplace in rural China. The couple now lives in Shanghai. Wu runs a health management institute and Thames works as a teacher at an international school in the city. Thames furthered her study by obtaining a master’s and a doctoral degree in education from universities in the US. They have two daughters, aged 17 and 14. Both girls excel at sport, Wu proudly revealed on social media. “I like him because he is tall, handsome and has a good character,” Thames told the media. “He is self-disciplined. He does not smoke or drink alcohol and he is romantic,” she added. Wu praised his wife for being kind-hearted and devoting herself to charity. “We accept and live with each other’s flaws. We seldom quarrel. My wife makes compromises when we have disputes. She knows I am a bossy person and she cares for my feelings,” said Wu. “We could not have come this far together without the challenges we faced,” said Thames. Wu said he shared his love story online to remind the public not to give up on their dreams just because they have a humble background.
