some random thoughts
Both articles embodied here are terrific, depicting what China along with its people is like in a foreigner's eyes. Well, their experiences in China stir up some ripples of thoughts in my mind.
The author of the first article got to know China, or more accurately, the poverty of China, via food. With a strikingly low budget of 9.1 yuan a day, he managed to survive for a week and thought the life is "not that bad". He might have some fibers of the traditional Chinese personalities. Gauged against the current consumption standard, his achievement is quite a feat. What makes his efforts more praiseworthy and precious is the fact he is not obliged to do this by any means. While, on the other hand, the life per se he led in that week is not something that special for a traditional Chinese. Coming of an agrarian country, China had been dominated by a self-supporting economy for about 2000 years. So long as you have some arable land, you can support yourself and your
family. You can plant rices on some sections of the land and vegetables on the others. If you have a real hankering for meat or fish, you can rear some domesticated fowls or spend a few hours sitting by a pond angling. In a word, you can survive, or even enjoy your life without having to spend a nickle. To be honest, this kind of life style registers a major part of my childhood and puberty. And I miss that span of time. Following Lin Yutang's anatomy of Chinese characteristics, people in the ancient times would not necessarily regard their life hard because they are unbelievably enduring and extremely satiable. Admittedly, time changes and people change accordingly, especially those living in towns and cities. Our living standard is beyond what our ancestors could even imagine. But are we as contended as they were? Poverty is not a reality; it is a kind of mindset emanating from making unnecessary comparison with others.
Reading the second article brims my heart with proud and pride.I am proud of the grandeur and picturesqueness of the landscape of our country; Iam proud of the hospitality and kindness of our people. They combined to glue the feet of a foreigner who has itchy feet. The best way of disseminating our culture to the world and efface the prejudice against us is not some self-boasting advertisements we make, but the word-of-mouth spreading among the foreigners themselves. Xiamen has set a good example. Now many people dream of emigrating; maybe this story may tell them something.
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