Richard Sears shows off his green card in Nanjing, Jiangsu province on Dec 23. [Photo/xdkb.net]

Richard Sears, a 70-year-old senior from the United States, said the green card he received from China on Dec 23 was the best New Year's gift.

Now a legal Nanjing citizen, Sears said that he has been waiting for the day for nearly 10 years and will permanently live in the city.

"I have been to many Chinese cities like Tianjin, Beijing, and Huangshan. I like living in Nanjing the most and I have a lot of friends here," he said.

Sears can now enjoy the same rights as Chinese citizens except for the right to vote and the right to be elected into public offices.

Aside from his new legal status, Sears is better known to Chinese people for his nickname of 'Uncle Chinese Characters,' which refers to his 30 years study and promotion of Chinese characters.

Sears said he was captivated by Chinese characters on first sight, but that he was not very good at writing them. While he regards Chinese characters as the most difficult to learn in the world, he resisted rote learning methods when learning them.

He was motivated by a sudden heart attack he experienced in 1994 and a doctor telling him he had only one year left to live. After thinking about what he wanted to do with what he thought was his last year, he decided to realize the digitization of Shuowen Jiezi, or Origin of Chinese Characters, a Chinese classic.

His research results were shared on the website of Chinese etymology, which was opened in 2002 and includes nearly 100,000 ancient Chinese characters and etymological analysis of 6,552 of the most-commonly-used modern characters.

"I keep learning Chinese characters and their pictographic origins every day. I'm interested in linguistics and I like Chinese characters. That's my hobby and goal, and I will devote my whole life to learn," Sears said.

Richard Sears takes his green card with both hands from an employee at the Entry-Exit Administration Department of the Nanjing Public Security Bureau. [Photo/xdkb.net]