My Rendezvous with China

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CHINA!!!!! Does it ring a bell? Since my childhood, the most persistent illustration that came to my mind, whenever I thought of China was The Great Wall, The Great Wall, and only The Great Wall. So magical and mystical an aura surrounded this majestic structure that an urge always remained in my heart to see this structure with naked eyes one day.

Ambuj Thakur [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Other images that caught my fancy, when I grew up, were those of the Terracotta Warriors of Emperor Qin Shihuang Di, the Forbidden City and, of course, Chairman Mao and the Great Hall of the People. My craze for this ancient civilization has taken me to pursuing doctoral studies on China, which has whetted my appetite for more information about this land and its people. The opportunity came in the form of being a member of the 500-member Indian Youth Delegation visiting China from 20-29 September 2011.

Two things caught my attention as I set foot on this country - the warmth of the people, and the amazing physical infrastructure. Contrary to popular perceptions outside China, I found the people very good and helpful despite the prevalence of the language barrier. They seem to be blessed with three characteristics -punctuality, discipline, hardworking - which explains the reasons behind their phenomenal success in emerging as the world’s second-largest economy and a great power-in-the-making.

The traffic was well-regulated in all the four cities that we visited - Beijing, Zhengzhou, Luoyang and Xi'an. One could not hear the honking of even a single car-horn. Very impressive indeed!!!! The most touching part was in Zhengzhou, when some of us went to a park at night time to watch some elderly people practicing Salsa. We were immediately surrounded by them. Neither they nor we could understand each other. But one could clearly understand the emotions of love and friendship emanating from their hearts, which was very touching. They even danced with some of us! Another incident that I can recall is when I got lost in the Wangfujing area of Beijing when looking for the metro station in order to catch the train to Yong'an li. People came forward to help me whenever I asked for it, and finally I reached my destination safe and sound.

The other feature I liked is the heavy investment that China has made on physical connectivity. The state of the roadways, railways, and airports is world-class. Although we were on the move for an average of 12-14 hours for 10 long days, the fatigue factor did not bog us down. The most memorable experience was our journey from Zhengzhou to Xi'an by train. The terrain was nothing but hilly, interspersed with valleys. Tunnels were dug deep into the hills and bridges were built over valleys to lay this railway line. The shock came when we realised that the train was moving at the speed of nearly 300 km/hr. It was awesome! To minimise the wastage of land to accommodate a growing urban population, the cities seem to have optimally utilised the skyline to build skyscrapers for housing and official purposes. To come across bicycles fitted with motors, for emergency use, was something unique.

China is not a place to be in for vegetarians. But those of us who relish on non-vegetarian food, it is a paradise. A motley group of delicious salads and meat and poultry dishes greeted us at every table. The fabled Peking Roast Duck, washed down with Cabernet Sauvignon (made in China) was definitely the soul-catcher amongst all. However, I can never forget the taste of the delicious tomato and egg gravy noodles that I ate in Zhengzhou. Chinese food seems to have medicinal value. It is devoid of generous helpings of salt, sugar, oil and spices. The cooking styles involved are steaming, boiling and roasting. Special care is taken to preserve the essential nutrient value of the food. That is the reason why we hardly came across a pouch-belly during our ten-day tour across four cities. However, one negative aspect noticed is that the people are heavy smokers, which needs to be controlled. The funniest thing for us Indians was that beer is cheaper than water in China. This is also a grim reminder of the fact that water is a precious resource that needs to be used judiciously.

The high-point of this journey was getting the opportunity to be addressed by the Honourable Premier of China, Wen Jiabao, in the Great Hall of the People. It was full of symbolism. He exhorted the youth of both China and India to intermix and reach common understandings to promote win-win cooperation among these two great ancient civilisations. The visits to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing; the White Horse Temple and the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang; and, the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, all gave us a peek into the richness of China's history and culture. The visits to the Zhengzhou University and the Xi'an Jiaotong University enabled us to interact with our counterparts there and build bridges of friendship, and learn from each other's strengths.

The only major problem that we faced was in the realm of language. Greater incentives should be given by the governments of China and India to promote the teaching and learning of each other’s languages in both the countries. The number of scholarships for their study should also be increased. Apart from that, this trip has been very successful. It has been educative because seeing oneself what one reads helps in leaving a permanent imprint on the mind of the learner about that place and its people. China is a great country with lovely people. Xiexie Zhongguo (Thank you, China) !

The author is a member of Beijing Group, Indian Youth Delegation to China 2011.

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