In Profound Memory of Former Russian Ambassador to China Igor A. Rogachev.docVIP

In Profound Memory of Former Russian Ambassador to China Igor A. Rogachev 　　N early one year has gone by since Mr. Igor Alexeyevich Rogachev， former Russian ambassador to China， passed away and the memory of my acquaintance with him is still vivid in my heart. 　　I remembered the founding of Kalinka Choir， the very first Russian chorus in China， together with my alumni from Beijing 101 Middle School and Beijing National Day School， and my own election as its head in 1993 when the Sino-Russian relations were still rather cold. Singing Russian songs were not common at that time. Therefore， activities of our choir became a hot media topic and helped revive the singing of Russian songs around the country. The Russian Ostankino TV station also reported our activities. 　　In the fall of 1993， our choir was invited to perform at the celebration party of the Mid-Autumn Festival hosted by the Russian Embassy. We sang several Russian songs accompanied by an accordion. There was much enthusiasm among the audience who had rarely had a chance to hear such songs for three decades. 　　Ambassador Rogachev was present. On learning our last item would be the famous Russian song Motherland March， he came up and， speaking in standard mandarin， offered to accompany us. He sat down before the piano and played skillfully. We were thrilled by the sonorous sound of the piano and sang vigorously the long lost tune. Friendly personages from Russia， Ukraine， Kazakhstan， Kyrgyzstan， Lithuania and more from China， gave us thunderous applause， but also sang together with us either in Russian or Chinese this song that had once been popular throughout China. I was deeply touched seeing some of them singing with tears in their eyes， and felt greatly honored to have pictures taken with Ambassador Rogachev and Vice President Galina Kulikova of the RussiaChina Friendship Association （RCFA） after the performance. Since then， Ambassador Rogachev’s tall， elegant and scholarly figure was ever in my mi