For all the impact he has had on people's lives through education and community projects, Kevin Stuart no longer gets a second glance from shoppers when he walks through Xining's Hu Tai street market.
The disinterest is a stark contrast to the time, nearly 20 years ago, when the tall, bearded American from Oklahoma arrived in the high plateau region of Qinghai following a three-year stint in Inner Mongolia.
In those early days, he was a real crowd puller.
'Nobody gives me a second look these days. I think the people have finally got used to me,' the English teacher says in a low voice between mouthfuls of spicy noodles at a market restaurant.
It's not surprise he was the object of their attention. Dr Stuart looks a bit like Santa Claus - tall, rotund and with long, grey, shaggy hair and whiskers.
He was studying for a doctorate in American studies at the University of Hawaii when a Chinese friend told him there were jobs available teaching English in Inner Mongolia. The idea appealed to his sense of adventure.
