Eric Abrahamsen from the US has been living in Beijing now for a total of eight years.

Now, he sets his studio in a traditional courtyard; he speaks fluent Chinese; he has a Chinese name 'Tao Jian'; and the most 'Chinese' of all, he plays the Guqin, or the Chinese zither, an instrument that dates back more than 3,000 years in China.

"I love playing Chinese zither. I've been practicing it since two years ago. My wife suggested me to play it, to cultivate my mind and help me know better about Chinese culture. She was right. The tune from it fascinated me. And the culture behind it is so deep that I can't have enough time to learn it."

Eric says he's been in China since 2001.

"It's quite accidental. I studied international affairs in college back in the United States, and naturally, I am supposed to focus on one country or zone to specialize my study. I've always been interested in Chinese culture, so I picked China and came here to learn Chinese."

Learning Chinese was tough for Eric for the first three years. But somehow, he had a breakthrough afterwards. The progress he owes to his Chinese wife.

Eric says his wife is different from the stereotyped image. She was raised in new China and has a good education. Her personal way of doing things caught his attention.

"She is straightforward, honest and easy. She studied English literature and American literature in college. And she speaks perfect English."

Maybe speaking good Chinese can be satisfying for other foreigners, but not for Eric. Actually, he goes deep and wide to really learn about Chinese culture.

Contemporary literature is one of his subjects.

"I asked my wife, who was then the girlfriend of mine, to introduce me a book. She recommended me the book 'My Spiritual Home' by contemporary wrier Wang Xiaobo. As we all know, the writer has passed away, he died. But his works live on. I found the book stunningly good and the writer stunningly talented. The book remains to be my favorite Chinese literature work, even until today."

Wang Xiaobo was a writer who suggested scientific and rational thinking, and fought against mind imprisonment. The book 'My Spiritual Home' was one of the writer's best essay collections. The writer had the experience of learning abroad, so western thinking influenced him. It has a perfect combination with traditional Chinese culture in his book. For this reason, Eric felt it was a call for him to translate the book, and introduce it to world readers.

He tells us of his further plan to promote cultural exchange between China and other countries.

"My next plan is to translate another Chinese novel entitled Feidu, or the Abandoned Capital in English. Then, I'll try to bridge cooperation between foreign publishing houses and that in China, and promote cultural exchange in a large scale. "

Only 10 years ago, Chinese people were amazed at the Chinese fluency of Dashan, a Canadian. Dashan was the first foreigner to perform the traditional performing art of cross-talk. Today, more and more foreigners can speak Chinese. And many of them, like Eric Abrahamsen, are contributing to the cultural exchange between China and their home countries.