TODAY,I’d like to share some ideas about important life lessons we can learn from China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak,along with some encouraging insights from foreigners who lived in China over a century a...TODAY,I’d like to share some ideas about important life lessons we can learn from China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak,along with some encouraging insights from foreigners who lived in China over a century ago.If you understand the spirit of ancient Chinese,and why foreigners had such great respect for both China’s government and its people in the past,you will understand why Chinese today are able to tackle such formidable foes as poverty,hunger,and now the raging epidemic.展开更多
AS I reviewed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s Report on the Work of the Government to the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing,it was hard to believe that this report was only the highlights ...AS I reviewed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s Report on the Work of the Government to the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing,it was hard to believe that this report was only the highlights of the government’s work for just one year!Such a diversity of goals and priorities could not be achieved by other nations even in a decade!The most obvious example is how China has handled the COVID-19 pandemic.展开更多
Iused to think ancient Chinese painters had to have been drunk to paint their surrealistic land- scapes with rivers meandering past temples and pagodas perched atop columnar mountain peaks - until we drove to Guilin. ...Iused to think ancient Chinese painters had to have been drunk to paint their surrealistic land- scapes with rivers meandering past temples and pagodas perched atop columnar mountain peaks - until we drove to Guilin. We could barely be- lieve our eyes as we drove through valleys blanketed in lush emerald rice paddies and ancient villages nestled against verti- cal green peaks topped with temples. But even the ancient Chinese doubted such landscapes really existed.展开更多
I’VE had few experiences as bucolic as gliding downriver past weeping willows and under the36 arched bridges of 1700-yearold Zhujiajiao Water Town-"Shanghai’s Venice of China."Zhujiajiao is a Chinese paint...I’VE had few experiences as bucolic as gliding downriver past weeping willows and under the36 arched bridges of 1700-yearold Zhujiajiao Water Town-"Shanghai’s Venice of China."Zhujiajiao is a Chinese painting come to life,with ancient white-washed tiled-roof homes adorned with classic red lanterns,27rivers teeming with fish,wildlife,and fowl such as egrets,wild mandarin ducks,and turtledoves,and the ruby red lotus flowers enshrined in展开更多
CHAN GZHO U’s Wujin District,in southern Jiangsu Province,is the birthplace of Wu culture,with 5,000 years of human civilization,buildings dating back some 2,700 years,and 2,500years of written history.But when I dro...CHAN GZHO U’s Wujin District,in southern Jiangsu Province,is the birthplace of Wu culture,with 5,000 years of human civilization,buildings dating back some 2,700 years,and 2,500years of written history.But when I drove past Wujin in the early 1990s,I didn’t even bother to展开更多
IN most of China,Sichuan cuisine means food with a few peppers tossed in.In Chengdu,according to the 2011"UNESCO City of Gastronomy,"they cook peppers with a bit of food tossed in.And the people are as fiery...IN most of China,Sichuan cuisine means food with a few peppers tossed in.In Chengdu,according to the 2011"UNESCO City of Gastronomy,"they cook peppers with a bit of food tossed in.And the people are as fiery as their food.Chengdu is one of the few major Chinese cities to have remained in the same place,under the same name,for over2,000 years-but the Sichuanese are far from staid.展开更多
Iguess readers still remember the adventure I had in 1994, when Susan and I with our two boys traveled around China. Here isan extract from a letter home written on July 20, 1994 to my parents.
MY first trip from Xiamen to Shenzhen was in 1981,and took an incredible18 hours.I was then not overly impressed with Shenzhen.Mostly fields and rice paddies with the odd drab concrete building here and there,it had f...MY first trip from Xiamen to Shenzhen was in 1981,and took an incredible18 hours.I was then not overly impressed with Shenzhen.Mostly fields and rice paddies with the odd drab concrete building here and there,it had few streetlights,and was almost pitch dark at night.I still clearly remember how the lady selling bus tickets asked me if I’d like to take the 7 am or 1 pm bus.I chose 7展开更多
I’VE driven some 200,000 km across China,but for over a decade I always detoured around Shanghai because it wasn’t"real China."To my knowledge,Shanghai was nothing but mud flats until 1844,when Westerners ...I’VE driven some 200,000 km across China,but for over a decade I always detoured around Shanghai because it wasn’t"real China."To my knowledge,Shanghai was nothing but mud flats until 1844,when Westerners built their international settlement on the now展开更多
MANY people may remember 2020 for China’s effective containment of COVID-19,but an even greater achievement this year will be China’s eradication of absolute poverty.This has been done through targeted poverty allev...MANY people may remember 2020 for China’s effective containment of COVID-19,but an even greater achievement this year will be China’s eradication of absolute poverty.This has been done through targeted poverty alleviation–a philosophy that Chinese President Xi Jinping first crafted and honed during his 17 years in Fujian Province.His policies and practices were so insightful and effective that many were adopted nationwide,long before anyone dreamed that the young provincial leader would take the helm of the country as well as the Communist Party of China.展开更多
THE third volume of Xi Jinping:The Governance of China–a systematic and comprehensive work on governance,which contains a compilation of 92 spoken and written works of Xi Jinping from October 18,2017 to January 13,20...THE third volume of Xi Jinping:The Governance of China–a systematic and comprehensive work on governance,which contains a compilation of 92 spoken and written works of Xi Jinping from October 18,2017 to January 13,2020,along with 41 photographs,has been warmly welcomed by those hoping to understand the mechanisms by which China has combated not just poverty but also other threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic,desertification,and urbanization.展开更多
BEFORE moving to China,my favorite hideaway was Hawaii,so I was delighted to learn China has its own Hawaii–southernmost Hainan Province.A Han Dynasty(206 BC-AD 220)emperor established a military garrison on Hainan I...BEFORE moving to China,my favorite hideaway was Hawaii,so I was delighted to learn China has its own Hawaii–southernmost Hainan Province.A Han Dynasty(206 BC-AD 220)emperor established a military garrison on Hainan Island,the largest island of Hainan Province,in 110 BC.Sun Yatsen recommended the establishment of a province in the region in 1906,but this did not happen until 1988,the year we moved to China.展开更多
WE were shocked five years ago when our eldest son,Shannon,who had lived in Xiamen most of his life,moved with his Xiamenese wife Miki to Beijing.But we couldn’t really blame him.We too have fallen in love with this ...WE were shocked five years ago when our eldest son,Shannon,who had lived in Xiamen most of his life,moved with his Xiamenese wife Miki to Beijing.But we couldn’t really blame him.We too have fallen in love with this 3,000-year-old city that is the heart and soul of both old and new China.We first visited Beijing in 1992 but didn’t really explore the city until the summer of 1994,when we drove展开更多
文摘TODAY,I’d like to share some ideas about important life lessons we can learn from China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak,along with some encouraging insights from foreigners who lived in China over a century ago.If you understand the spirit of ancient Chinese,and why foreigners had such great respect for both China’s government and its people in the past,you will understand why Chinese today are able to tackle such formidable foes as poverty,hunger,and now the raging epidemic.
文摘AS I reviewed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s Report on the Work of the Government to the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing,it was hard to believe that this report was only the highlights of the government’s work for just one year!Such a diversity of goals and priorities could not be achieved by other nations even in a decade!The most obvious example is how China has handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
文摘Iused to think ancient Chinese painters had to have been drunk to paint their surrealistic land- scapes with rivers meandering past temples and pagodas perched atop columnar mountain peaks - until we drove to Guilin. We could barely be- lieve our eyes as we drove through valleys blanketed in lush emerald rice paddies and ancient villages nestled against verti- cal green peaks topped with temples. But even the ancient Chinese doubted such landscapes really existed.
文摘I’VE had few experiences as bucolic as gliding downriver past weeping willows and under the36 arched bridges of 1700-yearold Zhujiajiao Water Town-"Shanghai’s Venice of China."Zhujiajiao is a Chinese painting come to life,with ancient white-washed tiled-roof homes adorned with classic red lanterns,27rivers teeming with fish,wildlife,and fowl such as egrets,wild mandarin ducks,and turtledoves,and the ruby red lotus flowers enshrined in
文摘CHAN GZHO U’s Wujin District,in southern Jiangsu Province,is the birthplace of Wu culture,with 5,000 years of human civilization,buildings dating back some 2,700 years,and 2,500years of written history.But when I drove past Wujin in the early 1990s,I didn’t even bother to
文摘IN most of China,Sichuan cuisine means food with a few peppers tossed in.In Chengdu,according to the 2011"UNESCO City of Gastronomy,"they cook peppers with a bit of food tossed in.And the people are as fiery as their food.Chengdu is one of the few major Chinese cities to have remained in the same place,under the same name,for over2,000 years-but the Sichuanese are far from staid.
文摘Iguess readers still remember the adventure I had in 1994, when Susan and I with our two boys traveled around China. Here isan extract from a letter home written on July 20, 1994 to my parents.
文摘MY first trip from Xiamen to Shenzhen was in 1981,and took an incredible18 hours.I was then not overly impressed with Shenzhen.Mostly fields and rice paddies with the odd drab concrete building here and there,it had few streetlights,and was almost pitch dark at night.I still clearly remember how the lady selling bus tickets asked me if I’d like to take the 7 am or 1 pm bus.I chose 7
文摘I’VE driven some 200,000 km across China,but for over a decade I always detoured around Shanghai because it wasn’t"real China."To my knowledge,Shanghai was nothing but mud flats until 1844,when Westerners built their international settlement on the now
文摘MANY people may remember 2020 for China’s effective containment of COVID-19,but an even greater achievement this year will be China’s eradication of absolute poverty.This has been done through targeted poverty alleviation–a philosophy that Chinese President Xi Jinping first crafted and honed during his 17 years in Fujian Province.His policies and practices were so insightful and effective that many were adopted nationwide,long before anyone dreamed that the young provincial leader would take the helm of the country as well as the Communist Party of China.
文摘THE third volume of Xi Jinping:The Governance of China–a systematic and comprehensive work on governance,which contains a compilation of 92 spoken and written works of Xi Jinping from October 18,2017 to January 13,2020,along with 41 photographs,has been warmly welcomed by those hoping to understand the mechanisms by which China has combated not just poverty but also other threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic,desertification,and urbanization.
文摘BEFORE moving to China,my favorite hideaway was Hawaii,so I was delighted to learn China has its own Hawaii–southernmost Hainan Province.A Han Dynasty(206 BC-AD 220)emperor established a military garrison on Hainan Island,the largest island of Hainan Province,in 110 BC.Sun Yatsen recommended the establishment of a province in the region in 1906,but this did not happen until 1988,the year we moved to China.
文摘WE were shocked five years ago when our eldest son,Shannon,who had lived in Xiamen most of his life,moved with his Xiamenese wife Miki to Beijing.But we couldn’t really blame him.We too have fallen in love with this 3,000-year-old city that is the heart and soul of both old and new China.We first visited Beijing in 1992 but didn’t really explore the city until the summer of 1994,when we drove
