Bao always remembers that Lu Gusun, the late English literature professor and renowned lexicographer at Fudan University, once encouraged her to study Old English when she was doing her master's in Shanghai.

"After she finishes her study and comes back, I, a 75-year-old man, would like to be her student!" Lu writes in the preface of the book.

After graduating from University College Dublin with a doctoral degree, Bao returned to teach at Fudan. And in September, Bao will start an introductory course on Old and Middle English literature. Yet, unfortunately, Lu passed away last July.

"But I am happy to see that there are many Chinese interested in Ireland," says Bao, who still receives many letters about The Annals of the Emerald Isle, which was published in 2015.

"Some of my students are already planing to study in Ireland," she says.

Contact the writer at xingyi@chinadaily.com.cn