Through a child's eyes

A 3-year-old's simple but captivating view of Beijing is captured in a picture book of treasured memories

Before leaving Beijing, a British Saudi mother opened a window for people around the world to see China's capital through the innocent eyes of her daughter.

Lana Sultan, a 37-year-old author, translated her daughter's adventures in discovering the city, as well as her feelings and inspirations, into a bilingual book, What a Place!

At the end of May, the mother and daughter took a day to travel around Beijing, taking pictures at the places they love so that they can take the memories back to Saudi Arabia. Yan Dongjie / China Daily

The illustrations of the temple fair, lion dance, the Great Wall and a park in Beijing.

Expressed in simple language, the book was illustrated by a local artist and published in Beijing in late April.

Maria Trabulsi moved to Beijing with her parents when she was 7 months old. Her family is preparing to move to Saudi Arabia at the end of June.

"I'm a Beijinger. I will miss this place so much," says the 3-year-old girl, who speaks fluent Chinese. She says she likes the busy streets and the quiet alleyways that run between ancient houses, her black-haired friends, and the various snacks and traditional festivals - basically every aspect of life in Beijing, from the traditional to modern.

Friendly, cheerful, precious, blissful, delightful, fun, festive, charming, legendary, lovely - in these words Sultan and Trabulsi describe the city in the book, which portrays 10 typical scenes in this city throughout a year with only 165 English words.

The scene the pair like best is the park in autumn: A group of old ladies dance, a band of elderly musicians plays instruments and sing, young men play table tennis and fly a kite, girls kick shuttlecocks and play Chinese yo-yo, and an elderly man writes brush calligraphy on the ground and walks around with a bird cage. People are exercising, and Trabulsi is learning tai chi.

"What a busy park," says Sultan, laughing. "But this is just what a park can be like in China, with so many different kinds of people having different kinds of fun."

Sultan writes in a way that a lot of people can relate to: Expats can connect it to their experience; Beijingers can enjoy that someone else appreciates their city and culture; and other Chinese people who don't know Beijing can learn about the city, and so can people who don't know China at all.

"I put all my passion into this book. I wrote it with love," says Sultan.

Readers, especially Chinese, may find little surprises in the book while reading, as there are so many elements that Chinese people are too familiar with to actually notice. In an illustration page about Chinese New Year, you can see a temple fair that is full of people and the color of dangling red lanterns, while people enjoy the festive foods, children buy little gifts, and others marvel at a traditional lion dance as drummers march along.

The illustrator of the book, Xu Wendi, is in her 20s and has been living in Beijing for more than 10 years. She says she found collaborating with Sultan on the book to be amazing.

"It feels like you have married someone, but you've never really seen his face in person, and after years of living together you finally get a chance to look at him, learn about him, and really fall in love with him," says Xu, who now has a new appreciation of the city that she lives in.

"Through illustration, I had totally new eyes to see the city. A foreigner can tell dozens of traditional Chinese elements in a scene, and that's just touching."

Xu says she got to observe Beijing more carefully while she was doing the illustration, for example, paying detailed attention to the shape of tiles on the roofs, the meaning of animal sculptures on different buildings, and even what breeds of birds are in the trees.

"From as big as the Great Wall, Tian'anmen Square and the traditional alleyways that can represent Beijing to as small as the traditional yogurt, the camp chairs old people carry around, and the stuffed animals that children hold in their hands, Lana communicated with me about every detail of the book," Xu recalls.

The panda clasped in Trabulsi's hands, which appears on the book's cover, is one of her favorite stuffed dolls.

At the end of May, Sultan and Trabulsi took a day to travel around Beijing, which they had never done so deliberately, taking pictures at the places they love so that they can take the memories back to Saudi Arabia. Trabulsi kept the panda throughout the journey.

"You see? That's how I'm inspired to write and publish the book," says Sultan, adding that her child's love of the city has made their connection to China stronger.

It wasn't easy for a foreigner to publish a book in China. It took Sultan about two years to finally find a publisher eager to help.

"I got refused by many publishing houses, sometimes for ridiculous reasons. For example, one told me that he couldn't publish my book because it wasn't a set but just one piece," she says.

However, she didn't give up, and instead called all the publishing houses she could reach out to, she finally finding someone who appreciated her efforts.

Li Xiangang, an editor at Daylight Publishing House, was touched by the feelings Sultan's family has for China - and, more importantly, the content of the book.

"No matter in terms of content, illustration quality or market potential, What A Place! matched my expectations for a children's book," he says, adding that he decided to publish the book almost immediately when he heard about it because he saw how China has attracted and amazed people around the world in the book.

Li adds that the publishing industry in China has been faced with challenges from e-readers and changes in people's reading habits in recent years.

"Illustrated books, however, are just beginning to unfold in China, ... and more great works are expected," says Li, who hopes more works like this, whether by Chinese or foreigners, can be released in China.

yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 06/17/2016 page23)