China's best known foreigner
The most widely known foreigner in China is finally getting some recognition in his home country – Canada. As most foreign residents of China can attest, just about every Chinese knows who Dashan is. Dashan, or “Big Mountain,” is the Chinese name of Mark Rowswell, a Canadian who has mastered Mandarin to an enviable degree.
Last week, Rowswell was one of dozens of Canadians to become members of the Order of Canada, the highest honor the nation bestows.
Dashan is beloved among China. He first came to the attention of Chinese in late 1988 when he appeared on a New Year’s Gala program on CCTV because some that Wikipedia says might have been seen by 550 million people. He has since parlayed that into a business of emceeing TV shows, promoting products, teaching Chinese on state televisions and having his mug pasted in ads all over China (see photo for example).
It’s common to hear Chinese people say Dashan speaks better Chinese than a lot of natives. It’s also common to hear foreigners bash Dashan. It’s partly out of envy. But it’s also because some foreigners see Dashan as a bit of a dupe for Chinese causes, playing the “innocent” and allowing Chinese to feel a tad superior.
Regardless of one’s point of view, though, Dashan has incontrovertibly become a de facto goodwill ambassador to China. And Canada has given him his reward.
