Edwin Maher at the signing event for his book launch in Beijing. (Photo : Reuters)
While Edwin Maher might be spoken of as an ex-pat Australian from the Victorian capital city of Melbourne, at the country's southern end, the popular China-based newsreader is actually a New Zealand native.
Now in his seventies, Maher remains under the employment of the CCTV media entity, while still enjoying the east Asian nation alongside his adopted Chinese family.
The media personality was so delighted by his experiences in China, after first arriving in Beijing just over a decade ago, that his collection of autobiographical tales was published in 2007 by the Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press company.
Maher's ongoing sense of wonder within the borders of the planet's most populated country is self-described as akin to the experience of traveling in a high-speed train, whereby the passenger is unaware of what the next destination will be.
Maher's fascination is not only still existent, but he remains content living and working in China as an anchor for CCTV, where his office is in the "very big" English-language building.
The anchorman broke down his work week in a feature interview with China Daily this week:
"We usually have four days for anchoring and I also do voice coaching for Chinese writers who want to read the voiceover on their stories to improve their intonations and their delivery, rather than just reading the words."
The newsreader's enthusiasm for coaching might have been influenced by the open warmth that was shown to him not long after his arrival in Beijing in the early 2000s.
Arriving in the Chinese capital after the death of his longtime wife from a brain tumor, Maher was offered directions by the son of the Xu family, Xu Zheng, which led to a home invitation and the subsequent "adoption" by the young man's parents, Xu Donghai and his wife Zhang Ying.
In Wednesday's article, the New Zealand ex-pat recounted that he was shown "extraordinary courage and hospitality."
