China says goodbye to Sun Youjun, a 'strange old man'

Author Sun Youjun (1933-2015). [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

One of the few ways for people to stay famous for generations is to create works that will leave a last impression on young minds.

Sun Youjun, who wrote The Adventures of Xiaobutou, was one such author. He died in Beijing on Aug 6, at age 82.

As one of the most famous fairy-tale writers in China, Sun enriched the growing yeas of many Chinese with his stories. Since his first full-length fairy tale The Adventures of Xiaobutou in 1961, he had published more than 20 works and collections of stories during a long and successful career.

Beside Xiaobutou, works like novella The Amazing House, collections such as The Dog's Small House, and series like The Strange Old Man are among the most popular fairy tales in China.

Even today, Xiaobutou is still popular among children, whose parents have themselves read the stories in their childhood.

Born in Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, Sun joined the army in 1950 at 17.