China: Harmony between traditions and modernization

As an editor of a web magazine on Pakistan-China relations named Nihao-Salam, I visited China in the month of July this year as a member of Pakistan Media delegation invited by China Radio International (CRI).

Our delegation comprising of 12 journalists visited several major Chinese cities along the Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world, to witness the traditional Chinese culture and the country's fast economic development.

Muhammad Arif. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

We arrived in the Beijing airport in a pleasant morning of 4th July 2011. CRI friends received us saying "Nihao to China" with smiling faces, utmost warmth and joyful love.

After reaching hotel in down town of Beijing, a long plan of our exciting tour of various places starting from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yichang, and Shanghai respectively kicked off.

China, especially for me, is a new world full of many wonders in art and culture, science and technology, education and economy. The images and pictures of new China that my eyes captured, during my visit, were different from what the Western media used to show us in news, movies and documentaries. From paddy fields of Chengdu to rising skylines of Shanghi, China is rich, fertile, beautiful and booming.

Diversity is blessing and Chinese leadership has weaved it into beautiful unity. I visited Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden Palace presenting harmonious China: respecting old values and marching with the time. Here I met every ethnic group of China having different skin colors and stature but joined and bonded by "one Red colour" that binds them together, powerfully, for a common dream of better destiny.

Being in China and not going to Great Wall is like taking tasteless tea. So I visited Great Wall that has become a "Global Wall" because tourists from every corner and continent of the world can be seen here "faithfully" mounting the "Global Wall" to get Mao's certificate. It shows China is open and welcome to the world. If you have dream to go to the moon and celebrate honeymoon, try to visit Shanghai and take a "Sky Walk" on Shanghi World Financial Center, some 474 m above the ground. Here, any time you can see the world at 360 angles from and have an amazing and wonderful sight of Shanghai. And at night, you can kiss the stars if you have big heart. Shanghai, once a silk center, has now become one of world's biggest commercial centers. Here, both the modern and traditional buildings are stretched on the corners of Huangpu River reflecting the magnificence of Chinese Civilization. Chinese flag fluttering on all these buildings seems guarding the goddess of good fortunes.

My trip was not focused on counting high rise plazas in Beijing and skyline of Shanghai but to learn from Chinese. So, for spiritual learning, I visited to the Dazu Rock Carvings which are of the highest artistic attainment and demonstrate the most exquisite skills.

Among the rock carvings, there are more than 5,000 statues and over 100,000 Chinese characters of inscriptions and epigraphs. The Buddhist statues dominate in this rock carving group, and the Taoist and the Confucian stone figures can also be seen here. Many statues show the Buddhist and the Confucius doctrines. In 1999, the Dazu Rock Carvings was ranked as a World Cultural Heritage Site. Standing here for a while, one may feel that it is really a Buddhist palace and you are in a class room of Buddha.

Believe or not, China is big. It is not only big in land area and volume of highest reserves but also big in achievements and one of the big marvelous achievements is construction of Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. It is engineering masterpiece of China. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity of 20,300 MW. The dam also increases the Yangtze River's shipping capacity, and reduces the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. The project is considered as a historic engineering, social and economic success with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines, and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

One another remarkable inspiring thing of Three Gorges Dam that lasted print on my memory was the fabulous performance by the Three Gorges Opera, admirable as well as unforgettable.

Do you love panda and want to see the baby panda playing with big panda in bamboo? Come to Chengdu, and visit Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center. This is a haven for wildlife. It has not only dedicated itself to giant panda conservation, but has also made great efforts to combine natural scenery and man-made landscapes to create wonderful and humane living areas for giant pandas, red pandas, and other Chinese endangered animals. Additionally there is a Giant Panda Museum together with research laboratories and a training center. This is the world's only thematic museum for rare and endangered animal species.

Cooperation and coordination for mutual betterment is in the instinct of Chinese. Quick and fast rehabilitation of earthquake affectees in Bechuan is evidence of it. The unprecedented development of township for the affected families shows the brotherhood among Chinese provinces and spirit to support the one in crisis. Development of Ecological garden here is a milestone and exemplary step towards green world.

I traveled in China by road, by high speed rail and by air. It gave me the chance to look inside the real China. I saw silent people reading or sleeping, chatting on mobile or working on tablets in the rail and on the air ports. A beautiful view of luxurious cars, public transport, electric motor bikes and bi-cycles can be seen on city roads from morning to evening. Moving and moving. Everywhere my eyes wandered, planning, wisdom and harmony between tradition and modernization seemed there. Chinese have leant the art to manage and utilize both the natural and human resources for the well being of its people. In fact, these are the secret jewels that take the nations and civilizations to the pinnacle of their success.

Everywhere I went, warmth and love welcomed me. From political capital Beijing to commercial capital Shanghai, from Chindee Bazar of Chengdu to marvelous work on Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, I found here lands are fertile and rich. People are vibrant, humble and friendly. Children of China are confident, cute and smiling while youth is cooperative and helping. Cities are planned and peaceful, foot paths are wide, neat and clean. Expressways and avenues are vast, long and environment friendly. Rail is modern, comfortable and high speed. Airports and railway stations are equipped with the state of art technology. City skylines are touching to stars, residential apartments are booming. Environment is friendly and open. Hotels are luxurious but affordable. Chains of Chinese and international restaurants are every where. Culture is colorful, art is flourishing, and theaters are unique and entertaining. Markets are bustling with native and international tourists; English-speaking Chinese graduates are emerging in the urban centers. Growing development and prosperity in urban and rural areas shows 21st century China; strong and powerful, marching in the world with glory.

I can conclude on the basis of my observation that today's China is not mere a name of modernization, industrialization, or commercialization but it is a protector of ancient art, culture, heritage as well as Nature. In today's China, peoples' dreams are coming true. Deng Xiaoping's soul will be happy now as sacrifices and long labour of Chinese people are rewarding them. Beijing is feeling proude to accomplish these dreams.Shanghai is glittering in the line of financial stars. From Africa to Europe, from America to Asia, world is looking at Chinese harmonious model of development.

China is not a factory of children toys, now; it is the power house of world's economy. Mao's Long march made the 1.43 billion people a nation, Deng Xiaoping gave new direction and Hu is leading the nation to march towards glorious, strong and super China. It is fact Chinese can create miracles; they will continue to inspire the world with wonders.

The tour was eye opening from every perspective. It was life's golden time I spent in China. We might turn old but sweet memories of this trip will keep us young. I can hear the smiling friends calling me "AAaalif" (Arif) say "Zhong Ba You Yee Wan Soy" (Long live Pakistan China Friendship).

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