Xue Fan, 78, is the man behind the translation of more than 2,000 foreign songs, including the famous Russian tune Nights in Moscow’s Suburbs.

In 1957, Xue Fan read a newspaper report about the Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow.

Nights in Moscow’s Suburbs, the prize-winning song written by Vasily Solovyov Sedoy and poet Mikhail Matusovsky in 1955, caught his attention.

The then 23-year-old was impressed by the beautiful lyrics and soft melody, and decided to translate it into Chinese.

“The song still haunts me after all these years – it keeps playing in my head,” says Xue, 78, who taught himself the Russian language after high school. “I am a translator and also a listener. Like most young Chinese people then, I have a special love for the song.”

He recalls spending one entire night translating the song. Every word he used matched the musical notes smoothly.

Xue didn’t expect the popularity of the Chinese version of the song to sweep the country in the 1960s. More.

See: China Daily