As a steam whistle shrieked over Shanghai Harbor on May 1, 1919, Hu Shih stood on the pier eagerly awaiting the arrival of a mail carrier from Japan. Hu had returned to China two years previously after earning a PhD in philosophy from Columbia University. Still just 28 years old, he was already a professor at Peking University.
1919 年 5 月 1 日，上海港口揚起汽笛的長鳴，碼頭上，時齡 28 歲、兩年前才從美國哥倫比亞大學取得哲學博士學位回到中國的胡適，當時已是北京大學的教授，正興奮地期待著從日本駛來的郵輪入港。