Belgrade flies flags in warm welcome
Landing at night can be thrilling. The beckoning lights, shining like stars from below, are enticing, and the energy of the city in the dark hours fuels one's curiosity about this strategic juncture between Europe and the Orient. We were descending into a welcoming Belgrade.
Like many of my colleagues in Premier Li Keqiang's delegation, accompanying him on the first visit by a premier to the Serbian capital in almost three decades, this was my first glimpse of the city that was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. It has paid a heavy price for its strategic location.
The city is no stranger to Chinese people. For me, a reporter in her 30s, Belgrade brings to mind the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in 1999 that killed three journalists. For the older generation, the city brings to mind a wartime movie - Valter Defends Sarajevo and the memory of their youth.
