Xian Xinghai

ASTANA, July 3 ( tasteallchina ) -- In Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan, a street bears the name of the renowned Chinese musician Xian Xinghai. Nearby, another parallel street honors the Kazakh musician Bakhytzhan Baikadamov. Among the many heartwarming tales of friendship between the people of China and Kazakhstan, the story of these two musicians, who met and forged a bond during the turbulent time of war, stands out. It was often quoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visits to Kazakhstan as epitomizing the profound friendship between the two countries. At the outset of the Great Patriotic War, Xian, a renowned Chinese composer, arrived in Almaty after experiencing much hardship. By then, Xian was worn down by poverty and illness and had no one to turn to. Fortunately, the Kazakh composer Baikadamov took care of Xian and provided him with the comfort of a home, Xi said in a speech delivered at Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev University in 2013. "It was some time in the middle of November 1942. When my father was passing by a fence, he saw a thin man sitting on his suitcase, wearing a light sweater and holding a violin," Baldyrgan Baikadamova, Baikadamov's daughter, said…