This painting is also one of Chen's favorite in the exhibition. [Photo by Katherine Zhang/ China Tibet Online]

In the crowded "Beauty of Tibet" Art Contest Painting Exhibition, he looked like an ordinary Chinese senior. While When he signed his name on the album on the receive desk, he wrote in English. And his English is much more fluent than his native language.

When I asked him where he came from, he smiled kindly and answered "Canada".

About sixty years ago, the 5-year-old Robert Chen left for Canada with his family. He studied and married there. Over sixty years later, he came back China to look for his root for the first time. Though the relatives he knew in his hometown had mostly gone, he still felt like home in China.

This was the first time for him and his two brothers to come to China, but they went to different cities. After going to their hometown, a small city near Hong Kong, Chen's two brothers went to Shanghai and Guangzhou, while he chose to go to Beijing. The last stop of his two week China tour is the Military Museum. On his way out, he noticed there was painting exhibition in the west hall of the museum themed by Tibet. As a fan of painting collection and with admiration of the mysterious land, he walked in the exhibition hall and was immediately enchanted by the beautiful paintings on Tibet.

When asked which painting is his favorite, Chen said it was difficult to answer, for he almost liked every one of them. The paintings have showed him a vivid Tibet. Though he heard of Tibet from TV and newspaper, the exhibition brought Tibet in front of him. During the interview, he said he had made the decision to go to Tibet next time when he came back to China. Though the arthritis troubled him for years, he still could drive there, for he had known that the transportation to Tibet is greatly improved.

As his plane took off at 6 o'clock, and time was tight for him, after a short stay in the exhibition, he had to leave, to leave his homeland and the dream world created by the exhibition.