Old China Hand: Terry Crossman, The American Who Joined the Ranks of Beijing’s Volunteer Dama

Imagine being a Chinese tourist not native to Beijing, strolling down one of the capital’s hutongs and happening upon a smiling foreigner sporting both a tie-dyed T-shirt and a red volunteer armband. As if that wasn’t surprising enough, he then begins to give you directions and advice in fluent Mandarin. No, it’s not a practical joke – 62-year-old American expat Terry Crossman officially joined the ranks of the Xicheng Dama [granny] Volunteers this past spring, and has been lending a hand in the streets ever since.

“I like helping people. It’s very touristy around here, and there’re always people lost in the hutongs. I know my way around and can help,” Crossman says during an interview with the Beijinger at his assigned post next to the Starbucks on the west side of Houhai. Crossman – whose Chinese name is Gao Tianrui and who also goes by the nickname Lao Gao – adds that most of the tourists he interacts with “are Chinese, and I’ll ask them in Mandarin where they want to go. And they’ll have this lost look on their face. Or sometimes they don’t even realize I’m not Chinese, and after a few minutes of conversation take a proper look and say: ‘Wow! You’re a foreigner?’”

Crossman’s stint as a volunteer has brought him internet fame and plenty of friends. It all started last winter when he was making his daily walk to the aforementioned Starbucks from his home in Shichahai, and while at the cafe, struck up a conversation with one of his regular servers, who he would go on to nickname Liu Jie, or Big Sister Liu. Their friendship grew and on one chilly morning Liu invited Crossman to accompany her to the sentry booth next door for a chat with her dama pals. They all became fast friends with Crossman and before long one of the volunteers, Liu Xiao Xia, asked the American expat if he’d like to appear in a video to promote them and their work.

“They asked me to memorize all these lines in Chinese, which I failed miserably at. But I really enjoyed the experience. The video was really well done and it led to the Xicheng volunteers winning an award, which means we beat out effing Chaoyang!” Crossman says with a chuckle of the friendly district based rivalries between these volunteers. That led to more promotional and viral videos, interview requests from journalists, and an invitation from the head representative of the Xicheng government to become a “Dama Volunteer” on a part time basis.

“A lot of people must be surprised to see this old hippie doing propaganda work for the Xicheng government,” Crossman says with a wry grin. “If they ever found out that I’m an anarcho-capitalist, libertarian Daoist, they might kick me out for good!”

Aside from the volunteering gig, and the slew of interview requests from various reporters, Crossman also now spends his time studying Mandarin. Not that he needs it – he speaks so fluently that he accidentally slips into Chinese during our interview, before quipping “My muyu [mother tongue] is Chinglish!” Despite that, one of the easiest ways for him to legally remain in Beijing, as a retiree, is to sign up for a student visa and hit the books.

He now plans to take the HSK Level 4 exam, of which he says with a laugh, “I can pass that, though I’m a little bit worried about trying Level 5,” adding that his reading and writing aren’t as strong as his speaking skills. He developed the latter over the past 22 years spent in Beijing, Crossman first coming to the capital in the late ‘90s as a headhunter, following a 12-year stint in Hong Kong and several years in Taiwan studying Mandarin prior to that.

His current arrangement might not be described as the cushiest of retirements, especially when he braves the cold winter days with a red scarf and Xicheng Dama hat, spending his breaks huddled in the booth with his fellow volunteers and chatting away over sips of hot water. But all that suits Crossman just fine. What’s more: He’s content to stay in Beijing for now, despite suffering a stroke in September of 2016.

That ill bout of health didn’t immediately make him pine for a Western hospital. Instead, “acupuncture really saved me; it’s great for stroke recovery. So now you know what to do if you ever have a stroke!” he exclaims with a chortle. Though his speech is occasionally slurred, and he now uses a cane while strolling along Houhai and the surrounding hutongs, Crossman otherwise looks strong and undeterred. He’s also clearly content to relish his surreal celebrity status and – above all – his chances to chat with visitors and his fellow volunteers.

Crossman concludes by saying, “I often tell the tourists I help, and the dama I work with, that my favorite phrase in Chinese is ‘wo zai dangxiale,’ or ‘I live for the moment.’”

This article first appeared in the Jan/Feb 2018 issue of the Beijinger.
Read the issue via Issuu online here, or access it as a PDF here.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos: Uni You