'Twins', though far apart

When I saw Gail Pilley speaking with residents of Guling, Fujian province, it felt as though I was the foreigner rather than Pilley. That was because the conversation was conducted in Fuzhouhua, the local dialect, so I was unable to understand what they were saying.

Born in Guling 76 years ago, Pilley left China at age 8 when her family moved to Malaysia. Her recent trip was the second time she had returned to her childhood home, having visited in 2014.

She had an important appointment in her diary; to meet her "twin sister", a retired professor of agriculture in Fuzhou who was born on the same day in 1941.