Gu Xingqing (male). Chinese national. Born around 1894 in Baoshan  near Shanghai. In 1917, Gu enrolled in the Chinese Labour Corps, setting sail for Europe from Qingdao on 17 April 1917. Early 1918, Gu served as an interpreter to the 49th compagny of the CLC in and near Poperinge in Belgium. He may have studied in the United States, Northwest[ern?] University until 1923. After 1949 Gu probably taught at the Shanghai Institute for Foreign Languages , presently Shanghai International Studies University.

In the late 1930s Gu wrote "Reminescences on My Work in Europe during the War", on his journey to and life and work in Europe during the war, including his impressions of Poperinge during the war.

Gu's witness account will be the red thread through the exhibit on the Chinese Labour Corps in Ieper (24 April to 15 August 2010).

The "Reminescences" were never reprinted after their third and final edition (Changsha 1938). In April 2010 a Dutch translation, the first edition ever in a language other than Chinese will be available through Lannoo publishers in Belgium.

Expectations are that this new translation will help fuel the search for the author or his descendants in China today.