My 7.5+ China Story

China will unswervingly follow the path it haschosen and the direction it has set – and I lookforward to continuing to experience this as anobserver and participant.

THE People’s Republic of China （PRC），founded in 1949， is still quite young at75 years old. Within this short periodof time China has not only been transformedfrom an underdeveloped agriculturalstate into a leading economic power and becomethe number one global driving force， it hasalso lifted hundreds of millions of people out ofpoverty， providing modest prosperity for all in ahistorically short period of time. Many Chinesetoday drive expensive German cars and owncondominiums or apartments， and the numberof billionaires in China is in the high three-digitranRNiRuknFGu329NQ4znHEeQ==ge.

This year I am also celebrating a small anniversaryof my own： I have spent a totagOo48cSdgpLete8bOhUsEA==l of 7.5years in China. When I was growing up in Germany，my parents had a passion for travelingand took my brother and me on at least threelong trips every year. As a result， I continue thisfamily tradition and travel whenever possible.After my first visit to China with my parents asa child in the 1980s， throughout my traveling toother countries around the world， I never forgotChina. I always wanted to visit this mysteriouscountry in the Far East again.

According to a Chinese proverb， “Nothing isimpossible to a willing mind.” My dream finallycame true in 2017. But this time I came to Chinanot as a tourist， but as an employee. Everything seemed to fall into place quite naturally， as if Ihad simply moved my workplace from Berlin toHamburg， but I found China to be more exciting.

Even though the initial veil of China’s mysteryslowly rises the longer I live here， my initialcuriosity and enthusiasm has remained alive tothis day. After coming to China， I first worked asa German editor for the China Media Group andthen as a lecturer for the University of InternationalBusiness and Economics in Beijing. Sincethe first time I stepped onto this magical land in1985， my relationship with China has spannednearly 40 years.

Big Changes on the Table

When I first visited China with my parentsand brother， the country was still in the earlystage of the reform and opening up. At thattime， China was still a long way from the moderncountry we know today. The streetscapewas dominated by bicycles， and the standardof living was modest compared to that of Westerncountries. However， people’s curiosity anddetermination to bring about change werealready palpable. Speaking of curiosity， back in1985， there were far fewer foreigners and people’sinterest in my blond-haired two-meter-tall father， who had to bend his head down in thehotel rooms， and my family was correspondinglystrong. Smartphones did not yet exist and so beingphotographed was limited.

Since food is a paramount necessity forpeople， it serves as an important entry pointto understand the temperament， culture， andeconomic development of a nation. Chinesepeople’s unique eating habits greatly impressedme during my first visit. I was also surprised byall the noises that filled restaurants — everyonetalked loudly. In addition， people really yelledfor waiters to come to their table. Only decadeslater did I come to understand that “fuwuyuan ”is not a swear word， but rather the Chinese termfor waiter or waitress. During my first visit I hadno idea.

At that time， we hoped in vain on many occasionsto find cold water to drink. The reasonwe could not find it was because Chinese atthat time generally preferred to drink warm oreven hot water. Today， some waiters take theinitiative when they see foreigners to ask themwhat kind of water they would like. On hot days，many restaurants even offer free water carafeswith cool water and lemon slices.

I read somewhere that eating with chopsticksis not considered the easiest method of takingfood even by many Chinese， but the reason theystick to it is because they believe learning somethingcomplicated early in life better prepareschildren to face a strenuous life. In fact， Chinesepeople prefer activities which exercise their children’sabilities. Today， after much practice， I caneat peanuts quickly with chopsticks， a practicethat is much better than stuffing them into mymouth with my hand.

In Germany， if someone puts a piece of fishin their mouth and a little later spits out all thebones sparkling clean into a napkin， it is enoughfor them to appear on television. But this isnothing unusual in China. Here， the mouth stillserves as a universal eating tool with whichmeat and everything edible is separated frombones， no matter how tiny. In Germany， this isall done by machines creating the product whichis called mechanically separated meat.

China is a big country in catering culture and has formed an array of its own distinctive localflavors with cooking styles that include Sichuancuisine， Hunan cuisine， Shandong cuisine， Zhejiangcuisine， Fujian cuisine， Anhui cuisine， Cantonesecuisine， and Jiangsu cuisine. It also has aprofound tea culture. With the opening of China'sdoors to the outside world， foreign fast foodbegan to enter the Chinese market. KFC openedits first store in Beijing in November 1987， andMcDonald's began its triumphal march in Shenzhenin October 1990. During the 1990s， it wasconsidered modern， distinguished， and even dignifiedto invite a friend to eat at McDonald’s orKFC. But now， at least in the eyes of the Chinesemiddle class， it is just a place where you occasionallytake your children to eat. The goldenage of Western fast food has been over for quitea while， and now Chinese prefer eating Chinesefast food.

At first， I thought that the Chinese wouldbecome as overweight as we Germans in viewof the invasion of Western fast-food chainrestaurants and high-calorie food trends. Butdespite the large intake of ice cream， milk teas，cappuccinos， burgers， and pizzas， the Chineseby and large are still a slim and fit people， whoare mindful of gaining too much weight. Whentaking an elevator， foreigners should never go bythe maximum number of people who can ridethe elevator， but go only by the permissible totalweight because a Westerner often weighs asmuch as two Chinese.

From Laggards to Leaders

When the PRC was founded on October 1，1949 under the leadership of Mao Zedong， mymother had not yet been born and no one couldhave imagined that her son would work thereone day. The country， which had previously beenbadly shaken by droughts， floods， earthquakes，famines， and decades of wars and internal conflicts，was economically exhausted. At that time，everything was waiting to be rebuilt， but theresilient Chinese never gave up.

During the early years of the PRC， China'sagriculture recovered and developed rapidly，and the national crisis prevention and response mechanism continued to improve. In 1978， DengXiaoping's reform and opening-up policy set thedirection for China's economic development.

In the 1990s， China emerged as the worldfactory as it massively expanded its manufacturingcapacity and began to play a central rolein global supply chains， but that was only thebeginning.

Over the past 20 years， China has evolvedfrom a manufacturing base to a center for innovationand technology. Today， China is a leaderin areas such as artificial intelligence， highspeedtrains， supercomputers， and aerospace.During my travels around China， I have alwaysbeen impressed by how far technological developmenthas spread. High-speed trains， whichvery often cross the country at speeds of 350km/h or more， are a daily reality. In terms ofairport construction， China is far ahead， whileGermany ranks the lowest. China has countlessInternet companies， but Germans will be happyif they have fast Internet at all.

In the electric vehicle industry， China haseven overtaken what once was termed thecarmaker nation — Germany. Chinese electricvehicle manufacturers such as BYD and NIO areplaying an increasingly important role in theglobal market. While I still see people with pa-per train tickets in Germany， the digital world isomnipresent all over China. The ubiquitous useof apps like WeChat and Alipay have profoundlychanged people's everyday lives. I rememberhow I regularly rented a shared bike via a QRcode and rode through the streets way beforesuch convenience existed in Europe.

In addition to economic and technologicalprogress， China's international role has alsochanged considerably. Today， China is a centralplayer on the world stage， not only economically，but also politically. The Belt and Road Initiativeproposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 hasbeen well received by the international community.The vision of building a community witha shared future for humankind embodies thebroad consensus of the international community.

In Berlin， I became acquainted with a lot ofChinese through a Chinese-French couple. Weoften met to drink coffee together， cook Chinesefood， and chat about life. They were full of prideabout the advancement of their home country.The conversations we had about China's progresswere often very passionate. Our discussionrevolved around China’s determined fightagainst corruption， promotion of e-commerce，economic and technological growth， and therise of Chinese brands like Huawei. They sawChina as a nation that had found its role in theworld and is shouldering its responsibility. Atthe same time， while Chinese are proud of theircountry’s accomplishments， they do not lookdown at less successful nations.

In addition to transforming China's economy，the reform and opening-up policy has alsobrought about profound social and culturalchanges. This far-sighted policy has not led to asharp decline in the number of middle-incomegroups， as in developed countries， but ratherincreased it dramatically.

Today， I have the privilege of teaching at aprestigious university in Beijing and am alwaysdeeply impressed by the curiosity， ambition， andsocial responsibility of my students. Millions ofyoung Chinese are well educated and will carrythe country's innovative strength into the future.

Despite China’s enormous economic progress，it still faces challenges today. One of the biggestchallenges is environmental protection. Inrecent years， China has made serious efforts toaddress environmental problems such as air pollutionand biodiversity loss， but much remainsto be done. The government has made the issueof environmental protection a top priority. Bythe way， the air in Beijing has become betterover the last few years.

Looking Ahead

What does the future hold for China？ It islikely that the country will continue to expandits international role. China does not wantthe strongest country in the world to determineothers' security and rights. In a multipolarizedworld， everyone should be entitled tothese basic rights. Building a community witha shared future for humankind is the key toChina's success. In addition， China's abundanceof highly qualified talents and the government'sunsparing investment in education have made ita world leader in many key areas.

Despite whatever challenges China faces inthe future， I am optimistic that it will continueimplementing its reforms and continue to develop.China has proven over the past 75 years thatit is capable of learning from mistakes. China’sself-correction mechanism is legendary， and insteadof just adapting to circumstances， it findsits own path and shows others the way.

The coming decades will show how far Chinacan go with its innovations and initiatives， butone thing is certain： This century belongs toChina.

When I first traveled to China back in the1980s， I never dreamed that I would one daywitness the remarkable story of its development.Today， after being in China for 7.5 years，I see a nation that has found its identity andis determined to shape its future. China willunswervingly follow the path it has chosen andthe direction it has set – and I look forward tocontinuing to experience this as an observerand participant.