My life as a journalist in China

Erik Nilsson

Erik Nilsson來自美國，其中文名字為聶子瑞。他的足跡遍布中國，全國兩會、奧運會、汶川和玉樹的地震現場……他以一個外國人的獨特視角見證著中國的驚天巨變。聶子瑞希望用自己的報道改變世界對中國的看法，他有一個小小的“中國夢”，就是“一輩子能夠留在中國”。

海詞積累

1.shadow v.跟隨……實地學習（或參觀）

2.boardroom n.董事會會議室

3.cleft-palate n.腭裂

4.underprivileged adj.貧困的；在社會中處于弱勢的；底層的

5.transparent adj.透明的

After 10 years as a journalist in China,I recall the weird and wonderful experiences this vast,extraordinary land has to offer.

I arrived to “do my year in China” a decade ago. I never left. That's because the country has so much to offer.And there's so much that foreigners can contribute to its development.

I'm shadowing the head of the United Nations in China as he tours Jiangsu Province's wetlands.

I'm sleeping among giant beetles（甲蟲）on the floor of a school in one of Anhui's poorest mountainside communities.

I'm in a cave with a monk. I'm with a boardroom with a Fortune 500 CEO. I'm listening to heroin（海洛因）addicts in Sichuan's Emeishan.

There are opportunities to get involved beyond work.

Colleagues and I started a volunteer group in Wenchuan in 2008. This inspired me to found another team in Yushu's quake zone five years ago.

Over the past half-decade,we've delivered clothes,food,medicine,computers and the like to Yushu's nomadic（游牧的）schools.

Last summer,we brought a girl from the deserted highlands to Beijing for a cleft-palate surgery. This summer, we brought a boy to Qinghai's Xining for ear surgery.

We also fully fund underprivileged university students' education. (In exchange,they volunteer to teach in isolated schools on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.)A highlight of my time is—a decade after arriving in the country—this year winning the China Government Friendship Award,the country's“highest honour for foreign experts who've made contributions to China's social and economic development”.

I was especially moved when Premier Li Keqiang said,when meeting us,that a 33-yearold winner indicates China's modernisation offers careers attractive to young overseas professionals and shows“new hope”for China's international cooperation.

I'm delighted government bodies,such as the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs,are advancing reforms to open up foreigntalent recruitment（招聘）,as Mr Li highlighted while meeting award winners during this year's National Day celebrations.These include“creating a fair and transparent work environment for foreign talents,respecting the market and rule of law”.

I'm eager for China to adopt new greencard procedures and reforms to health care for expats（僑民）and—as a father of two kids born in Beijing—their families,plus schooling for expat children.

Sometimes,I take our tykes （小淘氣）on my lap and tell them about adventures I've had in China.

I'll perhaps someday do the same with their children. Maybe here. Maybe they'll also be raised in China.I'd hope so.

Grandpa will have many stories about our times in the country.Ten years into China,I'm not planning to do another year.I'm hoping for ten more.At least，there are many stories left to tell,and to live.

Critical Thinking

Why does the journalist Erik Nilsson love China so much in your view?