"Li Sha's memoir allows people to envision an era that is fading away and has almost been forgotten by the younger generations. For the world and China, it was an earth-shaking and heartbreaking age full of tears and blood," said Chinese writer Wang Meng after reading My Connection with China (2009), a book written by Russian-born Chinese national Elisabeth Kishkin or "Li Sha" as she is known in China.

March 20 marked Kishkin's 100th birthday. Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Beijing People's Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries and the China Society for People's Friendship Studies jointly held a conference last week to commemorate the event as well as the 68th anniversary of her teaching career in China.

Originally from Russia, Kishkin came to China after falling in love and later marring one of the early leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Li Lisan, while the later was in Moscow in the 1930s. When they first met, Kishkin was only 19 years old, while the 35-year-old Li had already been married four times.

Always the activist Li studied in France in 1919 before being deported back to China in 1921 due to his active participation in the student movement there. After returning home, he joined the Party in Shanghai, becoming one of the earliest members of the Party.

However, in the 1930s, he was seen as too leftist and so was called to Moscow to repent for his actions.

While this was a downturn for his political career, it was a highlight of his personal life, because it was there that he met Kishkin, his future wife.

Life in Moscow wasn't easy for the two, for instance when Li was arrested in Moscow in 1938, it took Kishkin half a year to even locate him. After his release Kishkin continued to stand by her husband as he was continually reprimanded and criticized over the following several years.

In 1946, Kishkin moved to China with her husband. However, when diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and China began to break down in the 1960s, Kishkin faced with a huge dilemma: The Chinese government was offering her two choices, either get a divorce and leave the country or change her nationality.

During an interview on a TV program hosted by Chen Xiaonan, Kishkin described the scenario as a choice between "my motherland or my husband." In the end she chose love: her husband and his country.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Kishkin was seen as an agent of the Soviet Union, while her husband was accused of "living a capitalist lifestyle."

In 1967, Li was tortured and later died, while Kishkin was arrested and imprisoned for eight years.

Despite these struggles, Kishkin says she doesn't regret following her heart.

"I've lived a peaceful life for so many years. When I look back, I realize life would have been tedious if those rough years had never happened," she told Chen.

As a Russian teacher, Kishkin has taught thousands of students, some of whom have become quite famous in their own right.

Former ambassador to the Ukraine Yao Peisheng mentioned at the conference that people always complemented him asking: "Where did you learn your Russian?"

Russia Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov also complimented Kishkin for her huge contributions in promoting friendship between China and Russia.

Although Kishkin was not able to attend the conference for health reasons, she expressed her appreciation through a video, while her daughter Li Yingnan gave a speech on her behalf.

"People always ask my mother if she has a secret for living such a long life. It might be that she has an open heart. She always likes to say that history is history, and not something to be blamed," she said.