Did you know that Eric Liddell – missionary & Olympic gold medalist – was
born in our city, Tianjin? Yes — and he returned to Tianjin years later to
spread the Gospel. We visited his home, now a historic site, not far from our
apartment.

The movie Chariots of Fire made famous the story of Eric Liddell. During the
1924 Olympics he found that his best event – the 100 meter dash – was scheduled
on Sunday. Beholding his commitment not to run on the Sabbath, he dropped out
of the race. But later that week, Liddell captured the gold in his worst event
– the 400 meter – setting a long lasting world record.

“For Eric Liddell, however, this was not the ultimate race. The son of
Scottish missionaries to China, he saw his whole life as a race: a race for the
Kingdom of Heaven. That is why, two years after taking the Olympic gold, he
sailed to China, to become a missionary himself. Having seen the Chinese need
for science education, he had devoted himself to science studies at Edinburgh.
In China he became a teacher at the Anglo-Chinese school at Tientsin.”
[Tientsin: a translation for Tianjin.] –excerpt by Christianity Today,
taken from chi.gospelcom.net

See what the Chinese officials wrote on the plaque below: